


blinded by the sparks

by wallstracktwo



Category: One Direction
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Blow Jobs, Bottom Louis, Fluff, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:33:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27567544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallstracktwo/pseuds/wallstracktwo
Summary: "You can’t even keep your lies straight. Mike has the memory of an elephant and can remember every single detail about every single person he’s ever met, so don’t stand there and tell me that he mixed you up with someone else.” He took back Harry’s cigarette. “I saw you exchanging lower chips for higher ones. I saw you counting the cards. There is no fucking way you won seven thousand dollars tonight honestly. And so I will repeat myself — I want in. Fifty-fifty.”Harry was completely taken aback by the stunningly attractive man standing in front of him. He made several attempts to say something — opening and closing his mouth at least twice before he was finally able to string a few words together. “What? No. No way. No. Sorry, but I work alone.”That was the truth too — he had never trusted anyone enough to let them get close, especially when it came to his scamming, so having a partner was completely, utterly out of the question.“Don’t you think you need someone on the…” Louis’ tongue darted out, licking his lips as his eyes flickered to Harry’s mouth, one eyebrow cocking up. “...inside.”Or - Harry is a scammer who drifts from casino to casino. Louis is the new waiter who wants in on the scam.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 47
Kudos: 240
Collections: Bottom Louis Fic Fest 2020





	blinded by the sparks

**Author's Note:**

> My sincerest thanks to Hannah for betaing this fic for me and making it even better than I could have imagined. I appreciate your suggestions, edits and feedback more than you'll ever know.
> 
> And to Kaci for making me the most perfect moodboard - thank you.
> 
> The title comes from "Heartbreak Weather" by Niall Horan and this fic is inspired by prompt #42 of the BLFF. 
> 
> To the person who submitted the prompt - I had a lot of fun writing this and I truly hope that I did it justice.
> 
> I own nothing but the words (and mistakes) written below and am not allowing translations at this time.
> 
> Without further ado...enjoy...

$$$$$$$$$$

Dozens of neon lights in every color blinked brightly from the top of the brick building standing tall in the distance, illuminating the many various sized puddles which littered the adjoining parking lot. The long gone thunderstorm had been a much needed relief to the area, alleviating some of the lingering hot humidity that clung to the late June air.

Strolling through the parking lot, Harry Styles did his best to avoid the aforementioned puddles — sidestepping and zig-zagging across the pavement. The cars he passed were all vintage antiques — rusted jalopies held together with duct tape and hope, mud from a nearby washed out dirt road caked onto their tires. 

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something inside was telling him that tonight was going to be a great night, a remarkable night, an unforgettable night.

Humming a cheery tune by The Beach Boys, a chorus of crickets chirping along with him, Harry navigated his way closer to the entrance, spotting an elderly couple who were struggling to leave the building. He quickly raced to the door, grabbing a hold of the handle in order to swing it open wide for the pair, allowing them to exit easily.

They thanked Harry, wishing him a good evening and as they stepped off of the curb into the parking lot he had just come from, he couldn’t resist the urge to turn around and observe the couple. He looked on as the gentleman helped his wife into their car before he rounded to his side, settling into the driver’s seat, loudly slamming the door closed.

A twinge of jealousy crept into the back of his mind — Harry had always longed for a love like that, for a partner to take care of and grow old with, an equal in all aspects of life. He unsuccessfully tried to shake off the envious feeling that had wriggled its way inside as he watched the couple.

Managing to eke out a meager smile full of yearning, Harry spun around towards the building’s entrance as the car’s tail lights faded into the starless summer night.

At long last Harry crossed the threshold, entering the high-rise building. He swiftly pocketed his car keys before smoothing out the black dress shirt he had chosen to wear tonight. Buttoning the jacket of his pink suit — the color of salmon, the salesman had told him — he let the door close slowly behind him.

Located on the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee, there was nothing particularly special or extraordinary about The Lucky Flower Hotel and Casino — nothing making it stand out from other casinos, nothing that made people want to visit it. It was less grandiose than its counterparts in the capital city and the decor, floor and wall coverings were all very clearly outdated by at least thirty years and unquestionably in desperate need of an overhaul. Yet Harry could tell from the moment he had stumbled upon it that it was the perfect setting to execute the most memorable scam he had planned to date.

And if there was one thing that Harry Styles knew with 100 percent certainty, it was casinos. He knew the famous ones on the boardwalk in the resort town of Atlantic City, New Jersey, as well as the not-so-famous ones in struggling small towns across the country. He knew the ones frequented by millionaire celebrities on the popular Las Vegas strip and the ones where locals gathered in low income rural areas, gossiping more than they gambled. He knew which casinos to avoid and which ones to return to. 

And he knew without a doubt in his mind that the time he spent at The Lucky Flower Hotel and Casino was going to be momentous.

Scanning the interior of the building, Harry got the sense that he had been transported back in time to the 1970’s — dark orange shag carpet stretched from wall-to-wall, the only exception was a small patch of brown and yellow checkerboard linoleum flooring leading to the reception area of the hotel.

Big, bold, bright green and blue geometric shapes covered all of the walls, the patterns reflected by numerous mirrored columns as players and guests wandered throughout the casino.

Stationed next to the elevators was a large floating staircase, extending towards a second floor balcony. Observing people climbing up and down the stairs reminded Harry of reruns of _The Brady Bunch_ that he and his sister used to watch on television when they were younger.

The only thing louder than Harry’s surroundings were the ringing bells and alarms being set off to his immediate left where hundreds of slot machines were lined up in neat rows like vegetables growing in a garden.

He took a few steps further inside, his shoes echoing on the linoleum floor as he passed by the immaculately landscaped garden located directly across from the hotel’s check-in desk.

“Mike!” Harry called out, spotting a short, burly man standing next to an over-sized marble lion statue, making him appear much shorter than he actually was. If Harry had to venture a guess, he would say that Mike was fast approaching seventy — his slicked back hair more gray than black, face covered in frown lines, his black jacket unable to be buttoned over his pot belly stomach which hung over the edge of his waistband.

Striding over towards the casino’s head floor manager, Harry stretched his right hand out. “How’s it going tonight?” he asked, and as he neared the older gentleman, Harry could tell by the faded seams and worn-out hems on the black pants Mike was wearing that his entire suit was in need of a top-notch alteration.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t one of my favorite people!” Mike exclaimed, shaking Harry’s hand firmly, yet with an air of friendliness. “Harry, my boy, how are ya?” he asked, a bit of a southern drawl noticeable when he talked.

“Seeing as how I’m about to take you for everything you’ve got, I’d say I’m doing pretty good,” Harry chuckled, releasing Mike’s hand before brushing several fingers through his hair, attempting to tame the ring of unruly brown curls that had frizzed up as a result of all the humidity in the summer air.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll just have to see about that now, won’t we?” Mike scoffed, playfully clapping Harry’s shoulder. “Come on, come with me, I’ve got a big surprise in store for you tonight.”

Following Mike, who Harry had become friendly with during the twice-weekly visits he had been making to The Lucky Flower over the past couple of months, his eyes began to wander up towards the ceiling. 

As he had on his previous visits, Harry noticed the lack of security cameras and mentally noted that the few the casino actually had installed were all placed next to dimly lit antique beaded chandeliers, a sharp contrast to the bright strobing lights coming from dozens of rows of slot machines beneath them.

Coins, mainly just nickels since those were the cheapest games in the casino to play, jingled as they were dropped into the machines. A petite, silver-haired woman clad in an elegant black cocktail dress several rows away called out, “Jackpot!” Her machine began ringing and buzzing loudly, grabbing the attention of the scarce amount of players gambling around her. 

But...Harry wasn’t interested in playing slot machines.

Stale cigarette smoke billowed through the area, filling his lungs, overwhelming Harry with each breath he took as the two men came upon a group of people gathered around a nearby craps table. Cheers rang out, indicating the slender African-American gentleman wearing a brimmed cowboy hat and matching Bolo tie, who had just rolled a pair of dice down the table, was most likely on a winning streak.

But...Harry wasn’t interested in playing craps.

Shuffling shoes that appeared to be a size too small on the outdated carpet, Mike greeted the lone man who was standing at the roulette table. Harry found himself mesmerized, watching as the wheel spun around and around, the tiny silver ball clanking against the sides, threatening to land on red, then black, then red again before finally settling into a slot designated black. A loud string of profanities followed from the lanky, balding, middle-aged man, who had obviously bet on red.

But...Harry wasn’t interested in playing roulette.

Harry’s game of choice was blackjack. 

However, as they approached the table where he had been playing the card game every Tuesday and Thursday night for the past two months, Mike showed no sign of slowing down his pace.

The cheerful mood that he had been in upon first entering the casino started to waver, doubt creeping in as to whether the big surprise Mike had in store for Harry was actually a good one.

A tight knot settled in the pit of Harry’s stomach, waves of nausea and queasiness overtaking him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a complete stranger to this feeling of dread, having experienced it several years ago in Las Vegas when he had been in a similar situation. A pit boss had led him across the casino floor, straight past his familiar table and into a private office, where he had been confronted with damning video surveillance footage.

Beads of sweat began to break out on his forehead as he remembered being holed up in that tiny area in the back of The Bellagio for several stress-filled hours. But just like back then, he was able to maintain his composure, flattening out the front of his suit jacket and taking a very deep breath. 

Harry could see the confusion on the face of Anna May, the petite dealer with long blonde hair and a heavy southern accent — her eyebrows were furrowed and her head was tipped to one side. She seemed just as bewildered as he was, but unfortunately all he could do was shrug his shoulders in response as he hurried to catch up to Mike.

They finally stopped in front of a pair of floor-to-ceiling frosted glass doors with life-sized mermaids skillfully etched into them. There was a gold-plated sign hanging on the wall next to the entrance, the words _VIP Lounge_ emblazoned in big, bold, black letters.

And just like that, the knot deep in Harry’s stomach, the waves of nausea overwhelming him and the sweat gathered on his forehead all immediately disappeared and his good mood returned, even better than before.

“Welcome to the big league, kid,” Mike announced, holding the door open for Harry.

“Thanks,” Harry said flatly, trying not to let his excitement show on the outside, even though on the inside he was feeling giddy and playful, like a six-year-old waking up on Christmas morning to a huge pile of presents under the tree.

This was it. This was everything that he had been working towards for the past decade — to be among the esteemed high rollers in the VIP Lounge. Now things were about to get real interesting.

Taking in all of the sights and sounds around him, the first things that Harry noticed were the four sets of over-sized red leather chairs surrounding low square wooden tables, large glass vases filled with bouquets of colorful flowers set on each.

Directly behind the inviting, decorative seating area, were two dozen blackjack tables that had been arranged into three rows of eight, each table able to hold up to four players.

Beyond the blackjack area, he could see intense poker games being played at less than half of the twenty tables towards the back of the room.

Lining the entire length of the east wall was a long bar with enough high backed red leather stools to comfortably seat up to twelve people. Mermaids, matching the ones he had seen on the entry doors, were etched into the glass countertop, as well as the mirrored wall behind the bar.

The decor inside the VIP lounge seemed to be a retro extension of the main casino — fake wood panelling covered the walls and a wall-to-wall dark yellow carpet, which resembled the color of mustard, decorated with a pattern of bright green and purple circles lay under Harry’s feet. 

“Follow me,” Mike said, leading him over to the blackjack tables, and introducing him to an older, heavy set, African-American woman standing behind one of the empty ones. Her braided black hair was tied back with a vividly colored scarf and the name tag on her vest read ‘Barbara Jean'. She reluctantly gave Harry a half-crooked smile, giving him the distinct impression that she would rather be anywhere in the world besides dealing cards to drunk high rollers night after night at The Lucky Flower.

“An’ this…” Mike motioned with his head to the man who had just joined them. “This here’s the last of your surprise...Louis, one of our best an’ brightest. He’ll get ya whatever ya wan’, take real good care of ya.”

Harry could feel his gaze being pulled to Louis, like opposite ends of a magnet being attracted to one another — a north pole seeking its south. He couldn’t stop himself from raking his eyes over the exquisite figure standing just mere inches from him, taking in every feature, committing each one to memory.

Louis was wearing what Harry knew to be a standard casino wait staff uniform — a black vest over a white button down shirt which was tucked into black pants — black pants that hugged and accentuated every curve...every _single_ curve. Harry may have let his eyes appreciate Louis’ body a little too long, his gaze slowly gravitating towards Louis’ face.

And oh what a face it was — perfectly defined chiseled jawline, naturally high cheekbones, exceptionally long eyelashes, alluring pink lips, all framed by soft golden brown hair which fell across his forehead. Harry pored over every inch of Louis’ face, their eyes eventually meeting and Harry immediately found himself getting lost in the most gorgeous shade of crystal blue that he had ever seen.

Harry watched as little by little Louis’ lips began to curl into a smug smirk, a hint of knowing in his eyes as he cocked one eyebrow. “Oh yeah. I’m gonna take _real_ good care of you,” he echoed Mike’s sentiment, his words sultry and raspy as Harry swallowed hard, unable and unwilling to break their eye contact. “I can get you anything you need,” he leaned in closer, lowering his voice so that only Harry could hear. _“Anything,”_ he whispered, his breath hot against Harry’s skin for a brief moment before Louis pulled away, obviously wanting to gauge Harry’s reaction.

“Umm…” Harry cleared his throat into his fist in a losing attempt at composing himself. Rubbing the back of his neck, he stuttered trying to ask for a drink. “I’ll...I’ll just have a...umm...just...umm...a whiskey for now. Thanks,” he was finally able to spit out.

“Comin’ right up, sugar.” Louis’ smirk transformed into a wide, radiant smile full of teeth and tongue, a tiny dimple appearing in his right cheek. Harry was immediately smitten with the petite waiter who began slowly and seductively wetting his lips.

And with that, Louis turned and sauntered away, Harry’s eyes firmly glued to the sway of Louis’ hips, eventually finding their way to the swell of his ass.

“Whew boy!” Mike let out a loud, boisterous chuckle, obviously having bore witness to the entire flirtatious interaction between the two men. “He’s a pistol, innit he?”

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, watching as Louis approached the bar, leaning over the counter to say something to the bartender — most likely Harry’s drink order, his ass deliberately and prominently on display for Harry to ogle, appreciate and enjoy. Louis looked back in Harry’s direction, giving him a suggestive wink. “A real pistol alright.”

Pulling out the closest high-backed chair to him, Harry reached into his back pocket for his wallet before sinking down into the red leather cushion. He removed a dozen hundred dollar bills from the billfold, placing them on the green felt covered table in front of him to be exchanged for chips of various denominations.

As soon as he was given his stacks of casino chips, Barbara Jean began dealing Harry his first hand of cards. 

Seeing that things at the table were under control, Mike said good-bye to Harry, promising to stop by and check in on him in a little while.

“Whiskey for ya,” Louis announced, approaching the table and placing a round glass filled with amber colored liquid next to Harry’s chips. “So, what is it that you do, Harry?”

“Oh, well, I, umm...I work for a construction company. It’s really small though, so I doubt that you would have heard of it.”

“Hmm,” Louis hummed, dropping the drink tray he was holding to his side, his other hand shooting up to his hip. “Wow, that’s really... _interesting.”_

Creasing his eyebrows, Harry wondered what Louis was hinting at. “Interesting? How so?”

“Oh. Well, it’s just that Mike told me that you worked for an _investment_ company,” he cocked his hip as he continued, “so I find it interesting that you just told me something _completely_ different. That’s all _._ Like I said... _interesting_ .”

“Huh. I guess maybe Mike must have misunderstood? Or maybe he just mixed me up with someone else?” Harry offered, silently cursing himself for having made such an amateur mistake, something that he prided himself on never doing. It was obvious that Louis was knocking him off of his game. He needed to shake off the beautiful waiter and get back to the business at hand.

“Yeah...I’m sure that that’s it,” Louis seemed to agree, although Harry could tell by the tone of his voice that he in fact did _not_ agree.

Keeping eye contact with him, Harry slid a single red chip along the table in Louis’ direction. His hand recoiled slightly as he felt something touch him and when he glanced down he saw that it was Louis’ much smaller, much more delicate hand covering his. Louis leaned down close to Harry’s ear as he had done earlier. “Let me know if you _want_ anything else.”

Goosebumps began breaking out along his skin as Louis slowly started raking his fingertips softly across the back of Harry’s hand, slipping the chip out from under his grasp.

His instincts from previously in the evening had been right on target — tonight was sure to be a memorable one.

$$$$$$$$$$

Several hours and several drinks later, Harry was up almost six thousand dollars, which really wasn’t a new position for him to be in. In fact, knowing that his scam was virtually foolproof meant that he had nights like this more often than not, especially in a casino such as this one.

The Lucky Flower Hotel and Casino was situated on close to one hundred acres of land in the rural town of Cedar Hill, Tennessee. It was so rural that Harry had driven by only one single sign advertising the casino’s location and amenities on the main highway — and even that he would have completely missed, had he not been on the lookout for it.

Although Nashville was less than an hour away and Harry could have picked any one of the casinos within the city’s limits to set his sights on, those were notoriously more popular, which in turn meant more security, which in turn meant a greater chance of Harry being caught and arrested for cheating.

He liked to stick to small, family-owned casinos where he had the opportunity to get close to the employees, gaining their trust and flying under their radar. And that’s exactly why The Lucky Flower was the ideal target for his scam.

While he had been researching a casino named The Black Diamond in the neighboring state of Kentucky, a small ad for The Lucky Flower had popped up in the lower right hand corner of his computer screen, immediately piquing his interest.

After spending an hour scouring over reviews, Harry had decided to change course and head to Tennessee instead. Once he had plotted a new course, he'd begun to investigate the casino’s employees, compiling files on each one in an attempt to determine which were perfect to unknowingly aid and abet him in his plan.

And all of his research had paid off. The very first time Harry had stepped foot inside The Lucky Flower he'd known that he was about to embark on his biggest payday.

The main thing he had observed was that security was low — just several cameras scattered throughout the dilapidated ceiling, and in the two months he had been scamming this particular casino, he had yet to see any police or undercover officers patrolling the building — inside or out.

He had also noticed that the dealers were pretty sloppy and very slow. Harry had witnessed a large amount of misdeals, such as overturned cards and cards off the table. The dealers seemed to get so involved in personal conversations with the local, regular players that they often lost track of whose turn was next and what their bet was.

Harry found the entire staff of The Lucky Flower to be very accommodating and very friendly — so friendly that he almost felt bad about scamming them out of over forty thousand dollars so far... _almost_ .

Between the lack of security, the lackadaisical dealers and the overly hospitable employees, Harry had stumbled upon a gold mine in The Lucky Flower, altering his original plan and

extending his stay in Tennessee from three months to four.

That meant that he still had two more full months of scamming before he was set to move onto his next target — the casino he had initially been researching on the outskirts of Lexington, Kentucky in a town called Winchester.

“Need anything?”

Startled, Harry looked up to find Louis standing over him, his hands on his hips. “Can I get ya another?” He nodded towards the empty glass sitting on the table.

“Oh,” Harry paused for a moment, contemplating another drink. “You know what, I’m okay for now. About to head out soon. But thanks.”

“Sure thing. Hope to see you again...real soon,” Louis said, grinning wide and broad, like the Cheshire cat from _Alice in Wonderland_ . And just when Harry thought he couldn’t possibly find Louis any more attractive than he already did, he watched as several small crinkles materialized at the edges of Louis’ eyes and instantly a handful of butterflies began to flutter deep down in his stomach.

His own eyes followed Louis as he turned and drifted away, leaving Harry completely enamoured with the sexy male specimen. Louis seemed to have an unmistakable ease at engaging people in conversation, an uncanny ability to make them feel welcome and special, as though they were the most important person in the room. Harry had experienced it and wanted Louis to come back and make him feel that way again, to flirt with him some more the way that he was currently flirting with the seemingly charming, attractive silver haired fox wearing a dark blue suit sitting several tables over.

Trying to rid himself of the envious feeling that had snaked itself inside of him, Harry picked up the cards that had just been dealt to him, easily winning another thousand dollars as he turned them over, revealing an immediate twenty-one.

Deciding that he had played long enough for the evening, he thanked Barbara Jean, tipping her a black 100 dollar chip as he stood up from the table. He gathered his suit jacket from the back of his chair, pulling it on and buttoning it up before scooping up his winnings and making his way towards Mike, who had been positioned in front of the VIP lounge doors for the majority of the night.

“Good night?”

“Real good,” Harry answered, holding up his hands to show off that they were full of chips.

“Wasn’t talking about money.” He motioned behind Harry, who turned around to find that Louis was staring at him.

“Mike…” Harry playfully rolled his eyes at the older man.

Opening the door for Harry, Mike chuckled, “Don’t ‘Mike’ me. I could see the sparks flying between the two of you all night from all the way over here.”

Harry let out a loud laugh, shaking his head. “Okay, sure, whatever you say,” he tried to play it off, but he could see the sparks as well, could feel them — he just didn’t want to admit it to Mike and give him the satisfaction of being right. “Have a good night and I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

“You know where to find me,” Mike called out after Harry.

Cashing his chips in, Harry stuffed the envelope containing a little over seven thousand dollars into the inside pocket of his jacket before walking through the eclectically decorated building towards the exit.

Scamming casinos out of tens of thousands of dollars each and every month hadn’t always been what Harry had aspired to be when he grew up, but he learned the hard way that life has a funny way of surprising you — throwing curveballs and monkey wrenches into even the best laid plans.

Growing up in the poor farming town of Pooler, Georgia, in the eastern part of the state, all Harry had wanted for as long as he could remember was to get out and make it big. 

He had started on the path to stardom in high school by securing a spot on the varsity football team, then by earning membership into the National Honor Society and finally by graduating at the top of his class.

After high school he had headed west to the University of Georgia, having been offered a full scholarship to play football for the Bulldogs and by sophomore year he had become the youngest player to earn the position as the team’s starting linebacker.

Soon he was a household name, garnering praise and recognition for his achievements, both on, as well as off the field. Scouts from the NFL began attending UGA’s football games, all eyes on Harry and his untapped potential at the professional level.

Fate, however, had had other plans for Harry and in one of the most important games of his entire life, the unthinkable happened — he attempted to tackle the opposing team’s running back, stretching and pivoting in such an unnatural way that he had completely ruptured his Achilles tendon, instantly ending his football career and any chance he had had of making it to the pros immediately went up in a puff of smoke.

A deep, heavy depression had settled over Harry as he was forced to sit on the sidelines week after week, watching his position being played by someone else — someone less talented, someone less motivated than him. 

Then the anger had slowly crept in and after one particularly bad shouting match with another player that almost ended with punches being thrown by both sides, his fellow fraternity brothers knew that something had to be done. So they had hatched a plan to lift his spirits — poker night.

Unfortunately, mixing alcohol and poker had proved to be disastrous for everyone playing — chips were constantly being lost track of and several brothers raised when they had meant to call or called when they had meant to raise. Keith, the president of the fraternity at the time and one of Harry’s best friends, had suggested that they switch to blackjack, which was a much easier game to navigate while simultaneously downing drinks and getting drunk.

Soon the entire fraternity gathered every Wednesday for beer and blackjack and while the other brothers were playing for fun and to help Harry get his mind off of the tragic end to his football career, for Harry the game became something more, something he could use to catapult him out of his current situation and towards a bigger and better life. He'd figured that if football hadn’t been the answer, then maybe blackjack was.

Harry had dedicated nearly every spare minute he had had watching youtube videos teaching viewers how to count cards. He had poured over tutorials in order to learn shortcuts, he had absorbed tips on how to better his game and he had listened to podcasts by professionals who gave their advice on how to beat the dealer.

And it had worked. Week after week, all of the brothers had continually lost all of their money to Harry and when their money ran out, they used household chores to gamble with, promising to do Harry’s share of the workload around the fraternity house. For months he never had to cook his own meals, wash his own clothes or sweep any of the floors.

Then the night that he had turned 21 he had walked into a casino much like the one he was currently in — dilapidated, run down, in need of a renovation and full of drunken locals. He had walked out a thousand dollars richer. It wasn't much, but for a college student who was about to graduate and be out on his own, Harry felt as though he had just won the lottery.

He had returned the very next night, leaving this time with just over two thousand dollars in his pocket, but more importantly than that, an idea taking root in his mind.

Instead of becoming a professional football player, Harry had found himself becoming a professional card shark as he travelled all around the state of Georgia, spending more and more time in dingy, cigarette smoke filled casinos. In an attempt to avoid the unwanted attention of the pit bosses, he had made sure never to play at the same casino more than twice a month.

By the time he was 23 Harry had amassed a net worth of almost one hundred thousand dollars just from his success at counting cards at blackjack tables.

By the time he was 26 his winnings were nearing the million dollar mark and from coast to coast, he was slowly beginning to make a name for himself.

Then, during one ill-fated trip to Las Vegas, Harry had decided to press his luck, attempting his most daring scam at the world famous Bellagio. His overzealousness had landed him in front of the gaming control board, threatened with jail time. He had been able to slyly talk his way out of the dire situation, ultimately finding himself forced to leave the west coast behind.

Travelling aimlessly through the middle part of the United States, Harry had been unsure of where he was headed or where he was ultimately going to settle, he was simply having fun and increasing his bank account on a daily basis.

But what he did know was that big-time, popular casinos located in major cities were no longer options. He needed to stick to smaller, out of the way casinos where he could blend in with the crowd. And that’s just what he did, leaving a trail of broken hearts and duped casino staff in his wake.

Now a decade later, Harry exited The Lucky Flower after doing the only thing that he knew how to do — and do well.

The hot, humid air that had been washed away with the rain returned in full force, clinging to Harry the way clothes fresh out of the dryer stuck to one another.

He pulled a crushed pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket, placing one in his mouth as he searched the other pocket for his lighter, coming up empty-handed.

Harry threw his head back, looking up to the sky in defeat. “Son of a —”

A clicking sound came from behind him and he immediately turned to see a lighter being flicked open, the small flame growing bigger as the shadowy figure holding it began approaching where he was standing.

“You know you’re gonna get caught, right?” 

Louis.

“Is that _my_ lighter...? How did you—? Wait. What? What are you talking about? Get caught?” Harry stuttered as the smaller man took a step closer, lighting the cigarette that was still dangling precariously from his lips.

“Did you even hear what I said?” Harry was seemingly helpless to intervene as Louis reached out, his delicate fingers taking a hold of the cigarette and pulling it from Harry’s mouth before he had had the chance to inhale any of the tobacco. “You’re gonna get caught...you think you’re so slick, but I could see you counting those cards and switching out your chips from a mile away.” Louis took a long drag of the cigarette, exhaling a puff of smoke towards the night sky.

“I...I don’t...you don’t...you’re wrong. I wasn’t...” He let his sentence fade.

A disbelieving chuckle left the pretty waiter’s pretty mouth. “Yeah, of course you weren’t. You just go ahead and keep telling yourself that, but at least make sure your stories stay the same. See, I went back and talked to Mike and he’s pretty damn adamant that you told him you work for an investment company, so...you might want to pick _one_ lie and stick to it.” Louis leaned forward, lifting the corner of Harry’s jacket and sliding the lighter into the front pocket of Harry’s pants. “That being said...I want in.”

Harry caught Louis’ wrist, pulling him towards the dark alleyway next to the brightly lit building. “What do you mean…” he looked around, making sure they were alone before lowering his voice and continuing his question, “...you want in?”

“Just what I said...I want in on your scam, your scheme, your hijack, whatever you want to call it.” He took another long drag of the cigarette before placing it back in between Harry’s lips.

“I honestly have no idea —”

“Oh god, cut the bullshit Harry! Jesus Christ, you can’t even keep your lies straight. Mike has the memory of an elephant and can remember every single detail about every single person he’s ever met, so don’t stand there and tell me that he mixed you up with someone else.” He took back Harry’s cigarette. “I saw you exchanging lower chips for higher ones. I saw you counting the cards. There is no fucking way you won seven thousand dollars tonight honestly. And so I will repeat myself — I want in. Fifty-fifty.”

Harry was completely taken aback by the stunningly attractive man standing in front of him. He made several attempts to say something — opening and closing his mouth at least twice before he was finally able to string a few words together. “What? No. No way. No. Sorry, but I work alone.”

That was the truth too — he had never trusted anyone enough to let them get close, especially when it came to his scamming, so having a partner was completely, utterly out of the question. 

“Don’t you think you need someone on the…” Louis’ tongue darted out, licking his lips as his eyes flickered to Harry’s mouth, one eyebrow cocking up. “... _inside.”_

“Look…” For the second time tonight, Harry tried to regain his composure while in Louis’ presence, loudly clearing his throat. “I don’t need you, I don’t need anyone. I’ve made it this far on my own and I have every intention of keeping it that way.”

Louis took a step back, pulling his wrist out of Harry’s grasp before placing his hand on his hip. “Huh, well that’s too bad...I’m _really_ sorry that you feel that way. But...I completely understand.” He paused, tapping one finger on his chin. “I’ll tell you what, I’m feeling a little... _generous_ tonight, so I’m gonna give you, say, a ten...no, better make it a fifteen minute head start before I march back inside and up to the pit boss who oversees the VIP lounge. Then I’m going to _casually_ mention that he might want to review the security footage for the past three hours, paying extra special close attention to table ten, you know, the table _you_ were playing at — before he calls the police and they begin a manhunt for you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? You’re seriously going to stand there and fucking _blackmail_ me?” Harry asked, disbelief and anger obvious in his voice. _Who does this guy think he is? How dare he?_ “You’re actually blackmailing me into letting you partner up with me? And take _half_ of my winnings? For doing what exactly? Serving some drinks? No. Fuck that and fuck you.”

“Harry, Harry, Harry...blackmail is such a horrible _,_ terrible, _ugly_ word. Let’s think of this as more of a _partnership.”_

“You know something...? You are out of your goddamn mind.” Harry threw his hands up, slowly backing away from Louis.

“No. I’m not...I’m…” Louis sighed. “I’m desperate.” Harry stopped moving as Louis continued. “Look, I’m 32 years old and I’ve had to move in with my little sister because I didn’t have anywhere else to go after my ex cheated on me and tossed me out of his apartment.” His voice became quiet for the first time since Harry had met him earlier in the evening. “I’m a waiter at a low level casino because no one else will hire me and I’m completely and utterly miserable. I just want a way out of this shitty town and I think that we can...no. I _know_ that we can help each other.”

Harry didn’t say anything for a moment, staring at Louis — sizing him up, trying to decide if he was being sincere or if he was simply attempting to get Harry to admit that he’d been scamming The Lucky Flower for the past few weeks in order to turn him in to Mike.

“You know what? Just forget it. Forget I said anything. This was stupid. I’m not going to say anything to the pit boss, but that doesn’t mean that someone else won’t. So, you might want to go ahead and pick up and move onto the next casino, wherever that might be.” Sighing, Louis turned and began walking towards the employee entrance door into the building.

“Sixty-forty,” Harry called out before he could change his mind, before he could second guess his decision. “You can have forty percent.”

Louis pivoted around, giving Harry the biggest, brightest, most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life, the tiny crinkles making another appearance at the edges of Louis’ eyes and in that moment one thing became abundantly clear — Harry was completely fucked.

$$$$$$$$$$

Sitting in a back booth near the kitchen of an all-night diner a few miles down the road from The Lucky Flower, Harry was gripping the handle of his coffee cup so tightly that his knuckles had started to turn white.

He made an attempt to try and get rid of the nervousness he was feeling by reaching his other hand under the table and rubbing his thigh to stop his leg from bouncing up and down.

Looking around the restaurant reminded Harry of the diner his mother had worked in when he was younger. 

His father had walked out on the family when Harry was seven, leaving his mother no other choice but to pick up a second job in order to support him and his older sister. There weren’t many job opportunities in their tiny town, but the owner of the diner had known Harry’s father and was sympathetic towards the family he had left behind, giving his mother the only shift available — the dreaded weekend dinner rush.

Harry could remember racing his sister, spinning around and around on the stools that lined the counter while they waited for their mother to finish her shift and take them home.

Thinking about his mother and sister made Harry wish that he was still able to have a relationship with each of them. 

His mother had passed away several years ago and as for his sister — they had lost touch over a decade ago while Harry was still in college, then again shortly after their mother’s funeral. The last he had heard, she had just given birth to her fourth child and was living in the house next door to her in-laws.

He and his sister had been close growing up, they were only two years apart and since their town was the kind of town where everyone knew everyone else’s names, the Styles kids were well known. Harry especially was extremely popular — prom king, valedictorian, most likely to succeed — everyone knew Harry Styles around the state of Georgia and eventually throughout the country.

But during Harry’s junior year of high school he and his sister had begun to drift apart after it became evident that they simply wanted completely different things out of life. Instead of going to college, she had married her high school sweetheart a week after graduation, her first child was born soon afterwards. Harry had wanted something opposite, wanted to get out of Pooler, wanted to make a name for himself, wanted anything but an ordinary life.

She hadn’t understood his desires anymore than he had understood hers and a rift had begun forming between them that only grew larger as Harry’s football career at UGA skyrocketed. 

After his devastating injury, his sister had begged him to move home, informing him that her husband could get him a job at the power plant where he worked. Harry had declined the offer, saying he’d rather starve than settle for such a measly paying job and she had immediately hung up on him, not speaking to him again until the day she had called to let him know that their mother had died.

The bell on the door of the diner jingled, jolting Harry out of his memories. He looked up to see Louis scanning the restaurant, obviously searching for him and as their eyes locked across the room, Louis’ face lit up in a bright, blinding smile. 

As he walked towards the booth, Harry could see that he was carrying his black vest and that his shirt was untucked, a few of the buttons undone, exposing a tiny hint of black ink across his chest. He appeared tired and a bit disheveled — his hair was windswept and wet from the rain that had been plaguing the area for the past few days. Yet for it being almost two o’clock in the morning, he still managed to look soft and beautiful, taking Harry’s breath away with each step.

Sliding into the booth across from Harry, he waved the waitress over, quickly ordering a coffee and a slice of cheesecake.

“Are you okay?” he asked Harry as the waitress walked away.

“Umm, yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you have a death grip on your coffee cup.” Louis motioned to the mug Harry was still holding onto as if his life depended on it.

“Oh…” He let go of the mug, pushing it to the side. “Force of habit I guess.”

Louis gave him a small smile, raking his fingers gently through his hair, as the waitress approached their table, dropping off Louis’ drink and dessert before refilling Harry’s cup and leaving the two men alone.

“Can I ask you a question?

“Umm...yeah, sure, go ahead,” Louis answered, stirring cream into his coffee.

“Why are you so desperate to partner with me? I mean, surely there are other ways... _legal_ ways of getting the money you need.”

Louis chuckled, “You’re obviously not from around here.”

“No, I’m not,” Harry replied softly, shaking his head.

“Well, growing up in this part of Tennessee, options are...shall we say _limited._ I _was_ doing pretty good for myself for a while — had a good job, cute boyfriend, nice apartment.” He took a bite of his cheesecake.

“So what happened? You said the other night that you live with your sister now?”

Louis nodded, swallowing. “My ex cheated on me and since I was _technically_ living in his apartment, well, he kicked me out. Do you have any idea how utterly humiliating it is to have to call up your _younger_ sister, the one who has her act and life completely figured out — and in perfect order — and ask if you can move in? Then my car broke down and since I couldn’t afford to fix it I kept having to call out of work. Eventually they had had enough and told me not to bother coming in anymore.”

“Oh Louis, I am so sorry.” Harry took a sip of his coffee as Louis went on.

“Eh — it is what it is, right?” Louis shrugged his shoulders. “I only got the job at The Lucky Flower because of my sister, and while I’m grateful to her for the opportunity...I absolutely hate it and desperately want a way out of this godforsaken town...which is where you come in.”

$$$$$$$$$$

“Ok, I think I have it, but can we just go over the plan _one_ more time? Just to make sure?” Louis asked, taking a small sip from his second cup of coffee.

“Yeah, of course.” Harry slyly wiped his eye, not wanting Louis to see how utterly exhausted he was and suggest that they end the night. They had been brainstorming for over an hour and Harry found that more and more he genuinely enjoyed being in Louis’ company. Louis was smart, funny, handsome and Harry just wanted to sit back and listen to him talk — about anything and everything.

“So, at the beginning of my shift on Tuesday I am going to approach Mike and suggest that he offer Joe Maglio a spot at your table.” 

“And you’re sure Mike is going to go for this right?” Harry asked. “You’re absolutely sure? Because our whole plan is based on Mike agreeing and if he says no —”

“Oh trust me, he’ll agree,” Louis interrupted. “Joe Maglio is a regular who spends an _obscene_ amount of money at the casino, but he’s a real sleazeball and no one — and I mean absolutely no one, can stand him. The dealers all despise him and the rest of the wait staff are constantly trying to hand him off to one another. I’ll suggest Joe should move to your table and I’ll offer to take him off of everyone’s hands — in exchange for more hours. Mike is sure to agree. Hell, he’ll probably tell everyone it was his idea.”

“You seem pretty confident.”

Louis smirked. “I can be very... _persuasive_ …” — he cocked an eyebrow at Harry — “...when I need to be.”

“Yeah, don’t I know it.” Harry smiled a toothy grin back, a tinge of pink beginning to form on Louis’ cheeks. Harry liked seeing Louis this way — flirty and relaxed, but what he liked even more than that was being on the receiving end of Louis’ undivided attention. “Okay so Mike agrees and then…?”

“And then I’ll double the amount of alcohol in whatever drink Joe orders — usually gin and tonics according to the other waiters.”

“Right,” Harry agreed. “That way Joe’s playing will start to get sloppy and he’ll begin slipping up, leaving the door open for me to take advantage of his mistakes. I can continue to count the cards as Barbara deals them and if Joe happens to catch on, I can simply blame it on the alcohol and tell him he’s seeing things. But aren’t you…” Letting the sentence fade, Harry looked to Louis. “Aren’t you worried about screwing over your employer?”

Louis shrugged. “Not really. I mean, don’t get me wrong...Mike and the rest of the staff have been really good to me. And my sister is friends with Chris, the tall blonde bartender who works the night shift. He was able to hook me up with the waiter job after…well, you know.”

“Yeah. And I know that I already said I was sorry...but I’m...I’m really not. I’m glad that your ex let you go...otherwise I never would have met you.”

Silence fell over the table. Each man picked up their cup, their coffee long gone cold, and proceeded to take small sips. Harry put his mug down and before he could second guess or stop himself, he reached across the table, lightly brushing loose strands of hair off of Louis’ forehead.

He half expected Louis to smack his hand away or yell at him, but neither happened. In fact the opposite happened — Louis smiled brighter than Harry had ever seen, the pink shade across his cheeks darkening to a red color, causing Harry’s stomach to flip-flop.

After another minute of silence, Louis cleared his throat, speaking up first, “So, umm, tell me more about the numbers again?”

“Well, since hand signals are going to be virtually impossible with so many people in the VIP lounge watching, especially in the blackjack area, we’re going to have to rely on talking,” Harry explained, watching as Louis nodded along.

“But I can’t just say ‘Harry, Joe has a queen and a four'.”

Letting out a loud laugh, Harry agreed, “No, you most certainly _cannot_ . Not without getting us both caught and arrested anyway.”

“Definitely don’t want that,” Louis chuckled and Harry could feel himself slipping and developing feelings for Louis. “I just don’t understand anything about the numbers.”

“Okay, so because hand signals are out, I figured we needed a different strategy.” Louis nodded silently in agreement as Harry continued, “After racking my brain for hours the other night, the only thing I could think of was colors...but there are only so many ways you can work colors into a conversation. Then I came up with the solution... _numbers_ . Everytime you say a number, it’s a sign that Joe or whoever else is playing at the table has nothing in their hand and I’ll know to double down on my bet.”

“I understand all of that, it’s just... _how_ exactly am I supposed to work numbers into a conversation?” Louis asked, creasing his brow in confusion.

“Just start up a conversation with anyone — ask if anyone needs anything, you could ask Joe something about himself or you could ask me something. Act like you’re trying to get to know me,” Harry offered, running his fingers through his hair to cover the blush he could feel breaking out across his own face. “It’ll be easier than you think.” He slowly made eye contact with Louis, his voice dropping. “I have faith in you, Louis...you can do this.”

Louis sighed, giving Harry a small smile. “I really hope you’re right.”

“I am.” Harry returned the smile, reaching across the table and taking Louis’ hand into his. “You’re going to be great and I’ll be there every step of the way.”

Once again, silence crept up on them and they remained like that for a few minutes. Harry was unsure if he should let go of Louis’ hand, but Louis seemed content just looking at their hands, so Harry stayed exactly the way he was.

Louis broke the quiet, “Oh! But what about your job? Have you picked a story?”

Harry started to pull his hand back, but Louis squeezed, silently letting Harry know not to. “Since I already told Mike I work for an investment company and you said he remembers everything, I figured that I should stick with that one.”

“That makes sense,” Louis agreed, softly rubbing his thumb along the back of Harry’s hand. “I’m...Harry, are you sure that this is going to work? I mean, we’re not going to end up in jail, right?”

Harry sighed, “To be completely honest, no. I’ve been doing this by myself for such a long time and I have my own system in place and I know when to push and when to pull back...so having a partner is kind of throwing me for a loop.” Harry could see Louis shift in his chair, obviously upset by Harry’s lack of faith in him. “...but,” he continued, “we need to stick to the plan — no veering, no improvising and most important of all, we _cannot_ let our emotions cloud our judgements in any way, shape or form. I mean it. That’s the one thing that’s going to get us caught. I’ve seen it happen to others and I won’t...I can’t let that happen to me...to us.”

“It won’t,” Louis assured him, gripping Harry’s hand tighter, stirring the butterflies in his stomach.

No. Their plan definitely wasn’t flawless, but...it would have to do.

$$$$$$$$$$

Walking into the VIP lounge of The Lucky Flower a few days later, Harry wasn’t sure why Louis had ever doubted himself and whether or not he’d be able to handle his part of their plan because the first thing he saw was that Louis was already at Barbara Jean’s table seemingly flirting with a big-bellied, middle-aged man wearing a suit that was obviously two sizes too small, the buttons on his jacket straining to keep it closed.

“Good evenin’,” Louis greeted Harry with a wink as he approached the table, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs.

“Hello everyone.” Harry nodded to Barbara Jean, placing several hundred dollar bills down in front of him.

“Joe,” Louis began, “this is Mr…?”

“Oh, you can just call me Harry.”

“Okay then.” Louis started the introduction again, “Joe, this is Harry. Harry, this is Joe. And that over there is Scott.” He motioned to the elderly balding man wearing a green polo shirt who was sitting on the other side of Joe.

“Nice to meet ya, Harry,” Joe said, tossing his cards onto the table. “I was just tellin’ Louis here all about my recent trip to New Orleans. You ever been?”

Barbara Jean slid two neatly stacked piles of chips across the table to Harry and shuffled the deck of cards, dealing each man one card face down, followed by a second card face up. 

“Yeah. A few times, actually,” Harry answered, taking his cards and examining them both before stacking three chips in the center of the table.

“Is that right?” Joe asked. “Let me guess, Mardi Gras? Bet you gave away a shit ton of beads, huh? Probably picked up a pretty young thing and took her home for the night.” He let out a loud, obnoxious laugh that immediately began grating on Harry’s nerves, like fingernails scratching down a chalkboard.

“Nah, wasn’t exactly my kind of crowd.” Harry caught Louis’ gaze out of the corner of his eye as silence fell over the table for a moment.

“Okay, gentlemen,” Louis broke the quiet first. “What can I start everyone off with?” 

The man that Louis had introduced as Scott asked for a gin and tonic.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” Joe seconded.

“All right, so _two_ gin and tonics, got it,” Louis emphasized the number.

Two.

Harry immediately doubled down on his bet, reaching out to place three additional orange chips on top of the stack in front of him. The other men each bust, leaving Harry as the sole winner of the round.

“And Harry, how about you? Can I interest you in _anything?”_ Louis' voice was raspy and flirty, dripping with desire and laced with lust, sending shivers down Harry’s spine. “You know you can have _anything_ that you want.”

_Hold it together Harry, for fuck’s sake,_ he told himself, watching Louis’ tongue dart out slowly, wetting his perfect, soft, supple lips.

“Isn’t there _anything_ that you’d like?” Louis asked, his eyebrow cocking up, waiting for an answer.

_Fuck. He knows what he’s doing to me,_ Harry thought. _He totally knows and he’s absolutely loving it._

“Umm, just a whiskey,” Harry squeaked out, his voice going up by at least an octave. 

“Sure thing, sugar. Be right back. Don’t you boys miss me too much while I’m gone.” Louis smiled at him seductively, swaying his hips as he walked away, almost as though he knew Harry would be watching him. And he was. Of course he was. How could he not when Louis was practically everything he had ever wanted, ever needed, ever desired?

“He’s a character, innit he? But I like him anyway, despite his _flaws.”_

Harry was snapped back by Joe’s comments about Louis and turned to face the man, furrowing his brows.

“What _flaws_ are you talking about? _”_ Harry questioned. 

“Oh you know…”

“No, actually I don’t. Why don’t you enlighten me, Joe?” he asked, not caring that he was coming off as rude. And although deep down inside he already knew what Joe was alluding to, Harry wanted to hear him say it.

“Look, don’t get me wrong, I think Louis’ great, seems like a real nice guy, even if he’s, ya know...” Joe looked around before leaning close towards Harry and dropping his voice, “...gay.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay, Joe. You do realize that, right?”

“Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, of course. It’s just…”

“Just what?” Louis asked, approaching the table and setting a highball of alcohol down in front of each man. Joe grabbed his, knocking it back in one sip, slamming the glass onto the table.

“Another. Now,” he barked at Louis. 

“Umm...yeah. Sure thing, Joe,” he said, giving Harry a look filled with curiosity, but all that Harry could do in response was to gently shake his head. Louis was left with no other choice but to pick up the glass and walk back over to the bar in order to refill Joe’s drink.

“So, Harry, what is it that you do?” Joe asked, tossing his cards down in disgust, obviously having been dealt a high card, taking him well over twenty-one.

“I work for an investment company,” Harry answered flatly, gathering up his winnings.

“Oh yeah? And what brings you to West Bumblefuck, Tennessee? Business or pleasure?”

“Strictly business, unfortunately,” Harry chuckled, cracking a joke in an attempt to alleviate some of the tension that had fallen over the table. “The company that I work for is looking to expand and possibly open up an office in Nashville, so I’ve been here for the past couple of months scouting the area.”

“Nashville is _forty-five_ minutes away.” A voice came up from behind Harry. 

Forty-five. 

Harry tried to bite back a smile, his front teeth digging into his bottom lip as Louis placed a fresh drink in front of Joe. It was only their first night scheming together, but Louis was practically a professional at working various numbers into almost every conversation that they had had.

Stacking more chips onto his pile, Harry began elaborating on his story, in the hopes of making it sound convincing, “I’m not a fan of big cities — too loud, too many people, so I’m staying close by and actually...I found this place by sheer luck my first night in town.”

“Speaking of luck...looks like you could use some Joe,” Louis laughed, motioning to Joe’s dwindling stack of chips while moving closer to Harry.

“I...I didn’t ask for a drink.”

“I know, but you looked like you could use another _one_ .”

One.

After quickly doubling his bet, Harry slid a blue chip in Louis’ direction, their fingers briefly brushing against each other’s, sparks lighting their way through Harry’s veins, igniting his blood. He glanced up, catching Louis’ gaze, his blue eyes sparkling brightly as he pulled the chip from Harry’s grasp.

One thing became abundantly clear as the night went on and Harry left the casino with over fifteen thousand dollars in his pocket — partnering with Louis was quite possibly the best decision that Harry had ever made — even if Louis hadn’t given him much of a choice in the matter.

$$$$$$$$$$

A week later, the same three men were seated at the same blackjack table in almost the exact same scenario — Joe was becoming drunker and drunker with each glass that Louis set down in front of him — at last count, five, Scott was silently losing money every round and Harry was up almost seven thousand dollars.

“All right Joe.” Louis reached out, catching the heavy-set man by the arm before he could fall out of his chair. “Why don’t we see about getting you to a room upstairs? You can sleep this off and then drive home in the morning.”

“I’m fine, I’ll be fine,” Joe slurred, pulling his arm from Louis’ grasp. “Let go of me. You can’t tell me what to do, you little —” In an attempt to grab his suit jacket from the back of his chair, Joe promptly knocked it onto the floor, along with his keys, wallet and phone. “Leave me alone, asshole.”

Seeing that Joe was becoming belligerent, Harry felt he had no other option but to step in. “Joe, I can’t let you drive home like this.” The tone of Harry’s voice became stern, letting the older man know that there was no use in arguing, “You _need_ to stay here for the night.” 

Dejected, Joe let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. Okay. You’re right.”

Harry motioned for Mike, who approached the table with a confused look on his face. “Everything okay over here?” he questioned, seeing Joe’s belongings strewn all over the floor.

Hoping to avoid any more unwanted attention from the other players in the lounge, Harry pulled Mike aside, lowering his voice as he began explaining the situation, “Joe’s really not in any condition to be driving home, is there an available room where he could spend the night and sober up?”

“Yeah. Sure. Yeah, of course.”

“Great. Thanks Mike.”

Harry helped Mike wrap Joe’s arm around his neck, before the two men began making their way out of the VIP lounge and down the hall towards the elevators.

“I’ll be right back,” Louis announced, gathering Joe’s things up from off of the floor.

“You gonna be okay?” Harry asked, taking Louis’ hand, helping him stand back up. “Do you need me to go with you?”

Shaking his head, Louis gave Harry’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be alright. But thanks.”

The game resumed with just Harry and Scott seated at the table, but when Louis still hadn’t returned after twenty minutes, cracks gradually began forming in Harry’s concentration, getting bigger with each passing moment that he was gone. Keeping one eye on the lounge’s entrance was causing Harry to lose track of the cards that he was supposed to be counting.

His mind was racing, different scenarios as to what could possibly be keeping Louis flying by at a high speed, like a jet engine soaring through the sky. Surely it wouldn’t have taken this long to help Joe get settled into a room.

Just as he was about to place his next bet, Harry noticed that Mike had entered the VIP lounge, taking up his usual position next to the mermaid etched glass doors. But there was still no sign of Louis.

Harry signalled to Barbara Jean that he was done playing for the night — he couldn’t possibly focus on the task at hand while simultaneously picturing Louis and Joe...alone, together, in a hotel room. Not homophobic Joe. Louis wouldn’t...would he? _Maybe he would_ , Harry wondered, what did he actually know about the beautiful waiter with graceful moves and a beautiful face anyway?

But just the thought of someone else — especially someone like Joe — getting to put their hands all over Louis’ soft sun-kissed skin, of someone else getting to taste every delicious inch of Louis’ curvaceous body, of someone else getting the honor of feeling what being inside of Louis felt like — was causing an internal battle to rage inside of Harry’s brain.

Standing up, he pushed his chair in — worry beginning to mix with anger as he wondered what in the world was keeping Louis. Tugging his cream colored suit jacket on, not even bothering to button it, he gathered his winnings before marching over to Mike to inquire as to where Louis could be.

“He hasn’t come back yet?” Mike craned his neck to peer over Harry’s shoulder, taking a quick glance around the room.

“No, he hasn’t,” Harry said, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him.

“Sorry, Harry, I honestly have no idea where he is. Maybe he and Joe —”

Without giving Mike a chance to finish the rest of his sentence, Harry charged through the glass doors, making a beeline straight for the cash out counter, exchanging his chips for just over five thousand dollars.

“Fuck,” Harry grumbled under his breath, stepping out into the hot, humid summer night.

“What took you so long?”

Spinning around, Harry saw Louis leaning against the brick wall in the alleyway where they had first talked. His arms and legs were crossed, a smirk playfully tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

“Louis! What the fuck? Where have you been?” He rushed over to where Louis was standing. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?”

“Hurt? No. Why would you think that?” Louis asked, his head tipping to one side in confusion.

“I just...I thought...you said you were coming right back and when you didn’t...I was afraid Joe had...”

“Afraid Joe had what? Hmm?”

“I was afraid he’d done something to you...hurt you,” Harry explained.

“Done something to me?” Louis asked, raising his voice slightly. “Like what? Hit me? Forced himself on me?” 

“Well...yeah. I mean he was pretty drunk and angry and I was just worried that he might have taken his aggression out on you.”

Louis uncrossed his arms, pushing off of the wall. “He didn’t. But do you want to know something...if you were really that worried about me, then you could have at least tried to come and find me? From here it looked like you were about to just take off without a second thought.”

“Well...I wasn’t sure where you were and I just thought…”

“You just thought what? That I’m the kind of guy who would have sex with someone like Joe so why bother anyway?” Louis took a step towards Harry. “He didn’t force himself on me and even if he had, I don’t need you to be my knight in shining armor. I can protect myself you know.” 

“Oh…”

“ _Oh_ ? That’s all you have to say? Oh? That’s it?”

“You didn’t actually sleep with him...did you?” Harry blurted out, his mouth moving quicker than his brain.

Louis let out a laugh dripping with ridicule and contempt, shrugging his shoulders. “What if I did have sex with him? Hmm? What then? What would you do about it? Tell me, Harry.”

When he didn’t answer, Louis continued. “You know, you seem awfully interested in what did or didn’t happen between me and Joe in that hotel room. Is that because you’re jealous? Hmm? Does it make you jealous to think of Joe touching me? Putting his hands all over my body? Like you wish you could do?”

Even though the logical, rational part of his brain knew that he had absolutely no stake, no right to Louis whatsoever, an angry, hot fire began rumbling in the pit of Harry’s stomach, making its way up the back of his neck. He could feel his cheeks starting to warm, the urge to consume Louis, claim him as his own growing with each passing moment. His blood was boiling, heat radiating off of his skin as he warned Louis. “Don’t.”

“Don’t? Don’t what?” Louis asked innocently. “Do you really, honestly think I would have sex with a homophobe like Joe Maglio? Don’t you remember me telling you all about what a _sleazeball_ he is? I know that we don’t know each other very well, but do you truly think so little of me? That I would stoop so low?”

Harry was silent for a moment, giving Louis the opportunity to continue. “And not that it’s _any_ of your business...but here’s a newsflash for you...you don’t own me, Harry. I can do _whatever_ I want, with _whoever_ I want and there’s nothing _you_ …” — Louis reached out, poking him in the chest — “...can do about it. You’re the one who gave me that whole speech in the diner about...what was it you said again? Oh, that’s right...not to let my emotions cloud my judgement. Seems like you should practice what you pr—”

Harry was unable to fight off the hunger any longer, letting the all-consuming passion overpower him. He surged forward, taking Louis’ face into his hands before pressing their lips together. Their noses bumped, causing Harry to pull away for a split second before diving right back into Louis’ mouth again. Soft and warm, sweet, with a taste of cigarette and peppermint and something Harry could only describe as _Louis._

Walking him backwards, the brick wall stopping their movements, Harry felt Louis grab a hold of the front of his suit jacket, pulling him closer, erasing any space there was left between them. Harry went easily, molding himself to Louis and was rewarded with the most erotic moan he had ever heard, sending shivers down his spine and blood rushing to his dick.

Harry broke their kiss, staring at Louis — he was panting heavily, his lips were red and swollen, his eyes were as dark as the night sky and yet he looked like everything that Harry had ever wanted — and more, but he knew in that exact moment that he needed to walk away before he did something that they’d both later regret. 

Louis was right — he couldn’t let his emotions in, couldn’t let his guard down for a single second. He needed to stick to the plan, finish this scam and move on from The Lucky Flower — and Louis forever.

$$$$$$$$$$

Everything was going according to plan. 

Louis continued to insert numbers into the conversation at table ten every chance that he got and Harry continued walking away with thousands of dollars every night. The two men had managed to keep their scam going without arousing the suspicion of anyone inside of the casino.

Everything was going according to plan — except it wasn’t.

Harry knew that ever since he had kissed Louis in the darkened alleyway the previous week that his stint at The Lucky Flower needed to come to an end. The time had come for him to move on from The Lucky Flower — and from Louis. This was the first time since he had started scamming casinos that he had ever passed his self-inflicted deadline of staying in one place for longer than three months, having extended his stay once already. He should be in Kentucky by now, yet here he was, still in West Bumblefuck, Tennessee — unsure, unable, _unwilling_ to leave.

And the reason why was clear — Louis. He had never met anyone like Louis. The guys in his past had all been flings, one-night stands, secret little rendezvous — a bit of fun, a bit of amusement on the side to fill the lonely nights in backroad towns in the middle of nowhere. 

However, none of his chance encounters had ever made him feel the things that Louis was making him feel. None of them had ever challenged him the way that Louis had been challenging him. None of them completed him the way that Louis completed him. And that’s exactly what scared, yet at the same time, excited him.

But he knew that whatever was happening between him and Louis wouldn’t last, couldn’t last. Moving on was Harry’s only option — if he stayed he risked getting caught and that was just not something he was willing to do. So he needed to head to Kentucky — and the sooner, the better.

Crossing the parking lot after a particularly successful night, Harry saw Louis waiting for him next to his car. Louis’ black vest was laying on the hood, his shirt unbuttoned, revealing black ink that Harry was itching to trace — with his fingers, with his tongue, it didn’t matter, he just needed to touch it, to touch Louis.

“What’s going on between us?” Louis asked point-blank as Harry approached him.

“What do you mean? We’re partners.”

“Partners...right.” Louis nodded. “Nothing else?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders, wondering where Louis was going with his line of questioning. “Partners. Nothing else.” He repeated.

“So then that kiss the other night...it didn’t mean anything?”

Swallowing hard, Harry felt Louis’ eyes peering into him. And as much as Harry wanted to bare his heart and tell him exactly how he was feeling, something inside made him hesitate. “Nope.” He shook his head. “It was just a kiss...didn’t mean anything,” he replied, trying to keep all of his emotions in check.

Taking a step closer towards him, Louis reached out, unbuttoning his suit jacket and opening it to reveal a dark blue button down shirt. Gently running his fingers up Harry’s arms and across his chest, Louis looked up and as their eyes met, Harry could feel the heat radiating off of Louis, making the sweltering Tennessee summer night even more unbearable.

“So...you don’t feel _anything_ for me?”

“Louis…”

“Just answer the question, Harry.”

“Why are you doing this?” Harry asked, pushing Louis’ hands off of him and taking a step back.

“Because I want to know...I just want to know how you feel about me,” Louis explained.

Harry threw his hands up. “Why? What possible difference would that make? We’re partners, that’s all...that’s it...there can’t be…” he struggled to find the right words to explain why he and Louis would never work out. “Just...just stop this, okay? I’m leaving soon and so it doesn’t matter —”

“No,” Louis interrupted. “You know what, I won’t stop this, because there _is_ something between us. I know it and you know it too, so just say it, just tell —”

Harry lunged forward, crashing his lips into Louis’, their teeth clanking. It was a messy kiss, a desperate kiss — their mouths slipping, Harry biting at Louis’ bottom lip, Louis grasping at Harry’s shirt.

Raking his fingers through Louis’ hair, Harry pressed him against the door of the car, even though everything inside of him was screaming that this was a bad idea, a huge mistake and that he needed to stop. But Harry couldn’t help himself — ever since he had gotten that first taste of Louis he had been addicted. And with every look, every touch, every brush of Louis’ lips, Harry was helpless to stop as little by little he slipped under Louis’ seductive allure.

He could feel himself getting hard as Louis reached around and grabbed his ass, pulling him closer. Each time they broke apart, Harry was all too eager to join their lips again, needing to drink Louis in entirely.

Louis threw his head back against the car and Harry immediately began licking the warm, sensitive skin along Louis’ collarbone, nipping along his neck up to his ear. “Does that answer your question?” He asked, pulling back to take in the sight of Louis — pliable and docile, the moonlight shining down on him.

Blinking his eyes a few times, his eyelashes brushing against his cheeks, Louis gazed up to Harry. “Take me home,” he whispered, his voice cracking.

As he looked at the breathtakingly beautiful being standing before him, the wall that Harry had built up around himself instantly began to come down, his defenses crumbling as he decided to throw all caution to the wind and enjoy Louis for as long as he could. He’d be leaving Tennessee and Louis behind soon and this would all be a distant memory, so why shouldn’t he have a little fun in the meantime?

$$$$$$$$$$

Unlocking the door to the apartment he’d been renting for the past couple of months, Harry took a deep breath. “Okay, now keep in mind that it already came furnished, so none of the furniture is actually mine.” He turned, pushing the door open and reached in to flick the lights on, illuminating the room.

“Whoa!” Louis exclaimed, crossing the threshold he stepped inside the apartment. Harry closed the door as Louis looked around the small living room, a doorway on the right leading into the kitchen. “What the fuck, Harry?”

“I just said —”

“I know what you just said, but I was expecting... _something._ ” He motioned around the room with his arms. “But...I mean, Jesus, Harry, just look at this place. I don’t...I don’t understand...I mean, I’ve _seen_ you scam The Lucky Flower out of _thousands_ of dollars almost every night. Why aren’t you staying somewhere... _nice._ Or at least somewhere _decent.”_

Louis kicked his shoes next to the door, tossing his vest onto the arm of a worn out brown leather recliner, which was positioned directly in front of an outdated big screen television that looked as though it weighed at least two thousand pounds and required more than one person to move it. 

The entire apartment, with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom, was carpeted in a dark green shade of thick plush shag that reminded Harry of being on a golf course. The floor in the kitchen was covered in a black and white linoleum argyle pattern, the same pattern covering the walls, making it almost impossible to tell where the floor ended and the wall began.

In addition to the recliner in the living room, there was also a picture-patterned couch, the brown shades of velour complimenting the leather chair. Flanking each side of the sofa were vintage two-tiered end tables, matching blue ribbed glass lamp bases on each one. The lampshades covering the lights were a retro, psychedelic shade of neon green.

Harry’s laptop was sitting open on the coffee table, the screen black. A yellow legal pad was next to the computer, a list of names written in Harry’s handwriting took up the entire first page. Sketches and floor plans were strewn all over the table, some knocked onto the floor — he had been researching his next target before heading to The Lucky Flower for the night.

“Well from the looks of it, whoever designed The Lucky Flower also decorated this place,” Louis joked, running his fingers along the wood panelling that covered the living room walls as he examined an oil painting depicting a field of sunflowers that was hanging above the light switch.

Harry let out a half-hearted chuckle, placing his olive green colored suit jacket on top of Louis’ vest, unbuttoning the sleeves of his shirt before pushing the fabric up his arms. “I know that I could be renting something... _better_ , but honestly, I’d rather spend my money on other things. And I’ve actually been saving the majority of my money...” He let his sentence fade as he turned to watch the way Louis was moving around the small room, stopping in front of a floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelf, examining all of the eclectic knick-knacks and antique vases that cluttered the shelves.

“Saving it for what?” He asked, setting down a small Siamese cat statue back where he had found it, among dozens of other trinkets arranged on top of the television.

Harry plopped down on the couch. “Well, not really anything in particular. It’s just...growing up we were poor. And I don’t just mean poor, I mean _poor_ ... _really,_ really poor, especially after my father walked out on us. There were nights we were forced to go to bed hungry, thirsty and dirty because we didn’t have any food in the fridge and our water had been cut off.”

Sitting down next to Harry, Louis took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “I know the feeling. There was a stretch of about three, maybe even four days where my mother refused to eat because she wanted to make sure my sister and I had food instead.”

“Exactly! So then you know that feeling...the first time you actually have money, your _own_ money...that feeling that you need to hold onto it and you hate, absolutely _hate_ having to part with it, to spend it because you don’t know if or when you’ll ever have more.”

Louis gave him a genuine smile, radiating warmth and compassion that would have knocked Harry over, had he not been sitting down. “Yeah, I remember I slept with the very first paycheck I ever earned under my pillow for a week.” Louis bit back a laugh. “And then I would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking that it was gone, like someone had broken in and stolen it, so I would constantly reach under the pillow, take it out and just stare at it for hours.” 

“Then you understand why I’m not spending money on renting nicer apartments when I know I’ll just be gone in a few months. Before I left home, my mother made me promise that I would be frugal and pinch every penny and never take even a single cent for granted. So, I watch every dollar I spend because I’m afraid it’ll all be taken away, that I’ll wake up in that tiny ramshackled house in Pooler, Georgia - hungry and dirty.”

Nodding, Louis climbed onto Harry’s lap, straddling his legs as Harry rested his hands on Louis’ thighs. “It won’t be taken away. I’m going to make sure of it.” He brushed Harry’s hair back as they stared at each other in silence, the hum of the refrigerator the only noise in the apartment.

Scanning Louis’ face, from his brightly shining eyes down to his pink bottom lip which was caught between his teeth, Harry reached up, his hand grabbing the back of Louis’ neck, pulling him close. Louis opened his mouth slightly and Harry took advantage, running his tongue along each of Louis’ lips, tracing the outline of his mouth.

Harry had intended on taking his time exploring Louis’ mouth and body, savoring each moment he had with Louis, wanting the night to last as long as possible. But the passion and desire that had been building up inside of him over the past few weeks won out. He ached to feel the warmth and sweetness of Louis’ mouth. Unable to resist, he flicked his tongue in between Louis’ lips, immediately deepening their kiss, tasting the addicting mixture of cigarettes and mint and _Louis_ .

Tangling his fingers in the hair at the nape of Louis’ neck, Harry could feel himself begin to harden as Louis moaned into his mouth. He grabbed a hold of Louis’ hip, slowly gliding him back and forth, trying to create friction between them.

The room started to fill with the sounds of heavy panting and moaning escaping from each man, shadows dancing on the wall from the moonlight streaming in through the window behind them.

Louis gripped onto the back of the couch with one hand, the other guiding Harry’s hand from his hip to his ass, their fingers linked together as they began kneading, massaging and rubbing Louis’ ass.

“Harry…” Louis called out, throwing his head back and exposing his neck. 

Harry immediately latched onto it — licking, nipping, biting, sucking on the delicate skin. “I’m right here, baby.”

Letting go of Louis’ hair, Harry brought his hand down, slapping Louis on the ass, earning a whiny moan from the man in his lap.

“I need you to tell me what you want.” Harry’s voice sounded deeper than usual, full of want and desire.

When Louis didn’t answer, Harry gave his ass another slap, the sound echoing softly throughout the room. “Baby, I need you to tell me.”

“Everything. Please, Harry. I want everything,” Louis pleaded as Harry slowly stood up from the couch, allowing Louis a moment to wrap his arms and legs around Harry’s body. He clung desperately to Harry, nipping at his neck as he began walking them down the hallway towards the bedroom.

The grip Harry had on Louis’ ass tightened as he slammed the bedroom door closed behind them with his foot, immediately pushing Louis’ back against it.

He looked at Louis in the dark, searching his face for second thoughts, but unable to find any. What he did find was lust, desire and it made Harry’s heart skip a beat as he leaned forward, closing the distance between them unsure of where he ended and Louis began. 

His head was swimming, all of his senses being overwhelmed. Louis was everywhere, invading his thoughts, taking over his every waking moment since the first time he had laid eyes on the heavenly figure.

Louis unwrapped his legs, letting them drop to the floor, one hand still in Harry’s hair, the other snaking up the back of his shirt. Louis’ touch was light, his hand small and warm on Harry’s skin, just how he had imagined.

Harry brought their lips together, teeth clicking and tongues swirling together. His hands began working feverishly to unzip Louis’ pants, not wasting any time shoving his hands inside, wrapping his fingers around Louis’ hard, throbbing cock. He slid his hand steadily up and down, Louis moaning and whimpering into his mouth, pulling Harry’s hair tighter, digging his nails into Harry’s shoulder.

Breaking their kiss, Harry’s eyes went right to the waistband of Louis’ pants. He slid them down Louis’ legs, squatting to help him step out before tossing them aside. 

He stood back up, unbuttoning Louis’ shirt, tugging it off of his arms and adding it to the pile of discarded clothes.

Taking a step back, Harry was finally able to take in the naked form before him — seductive hips, chiseled collarbones, golden skin. He was rewarded with the full view of the tattoo across Louis’ chest — the words ‘it is what it is’ in black ink just begging to be traced with Harry’s tongue.

Sparse chestnut brown hair dusted Louis’ flat, defined torso, which ended at his pretty pink cock. It was hard, throbbing and leaking and Harry thought about wrapping his lips around it. Maybe next time.

For now, he wanted nothing more than to be inside of Louis, feeling how warm and tight he was, fucking in and out of him as he whimpered and begged beneath Harry.

Pride bubbled up inside Harry as he witnessed what a disheveled mess Louis was — his hair was tousled, strands sticking up in all directions, his cheeks were flushed, his lips were red and raw, his eyes were glassy and dark and there was a small bruise already beginning to form on his neck where Harry had been sucking and biting.

“Fuck. Look at you. The things I want to do to you, been waiting to do to you.” Taking Louis’ hand, Harry led him across the bedroom. “On your stomach for me.”

Louis nodded, climbing onto the bed while Harry busied himself, opening the drawer of his bedside table, rummaging around for the necessary items.

As he turned, his breath hitched at the stunning sight of Louis on display just for him. He had had plenty of lovers, plenty of men in his bed over the years, but none of them, not one, held a candle to the man currently occupying his bed. He was glowing in the moonlight, his ass round and firm and all Harry’s.

“You are so…” For once Harry seemed to be at a complete loss for words and could only mutter, “beautiful.”

Looking over his shoulder to Harry, Louis gave him a playful smile. “Are you gonna just stare at me all night or do you plan on getting inside of me anytime soon?”

Harry barked out a laugh, quickly shedding his clothes and throwing them somewhere in the darkened room. He tentatively reached out, running his one finger down Louis’ spine to the swell of his ass.

Leaning over Louis, Harry placed several light kisses on Louis’ shoulder blade, licking across to the other one before his lips followed the exact same trail his finger had just made, nibbling at the soft skin of Louis’ ass. Louis tried to push his ass back towards Harry, but was met with a slap. “Be patient baby, I’m gonna make you feel so good.”

Grabbing both of Louis’ cheeks, Harry squeezed the meaty flesh, slowly spreading him wide, licking from his perineum to his hole.

“Oh fuck.” Louis reached out, fisting the blanket beneath him.

Lapping at Louis’ hole over and over again, saliva dripping onto the bed, Harry listened as the sultry moans and whimpers coming from Louis started to get louder and increase in frequency, spurring Harry on to slowly slip his tongue inside Louis’ hole.

Grinding on the mattress, Louis began chanting Harry’s name as he ate Louis out vigorously and enthusiastically. He could feel Louis clenching around his tongue and as he pushed one finger in, Louis began rutting against the mattress.

“Oh god, yes,” Louis choked out as Harry thrust his finger deeper.

Pulling away, Harry watched Louis desperately grinding his hips back and forth. “Fuck, look at you. So needy, aren’t you?”

Working a second finger inside, feeling how warm and tight Louis was around his fingers, 

Harry couldn’t imagine how utterly amazing having his cock in Louis would feel, how overwhelming that first push would be.

Loudly, Louis grunted out a string of _fucks_ and _uhs_ and _more_ as Harry scissored his fingers, crooking them just right, causing Louis’ movements to become erratic as he frantically fucked down into the mattress, pulling the blankets back from the edge of the bed.

“You’re so fucking beautiful. Can’t believe I get to have you.” Harry’s words were clearly affecting Louis, his moans and whimpers escalating. “Can’t believe I get to fuck this amazing ass.”

He knew he had nailed Louis’ spot when his body began to tense and his motions slowed down just a little. 

Moving up Louis’ body, Harry purred into his ear, “I want you to come for me baby.” And he did, coming on the blanket beneath him, whimpering and hissing as Harry gingerly pulled his fingers out.

Harry made quick work of rolling the condom on and slicking himself up with lube, not wanting to waste any more time, needing to be inside of Louis as soon as possible.

Helping Louis up on his hands and knees, Harry lined himself up, pushing just the head in first. He stopped when Louis gasped, waiting a few seconds before sliding in slowly, inch by inch.

It may have seemed cliche, but he began seeing stars, fireworks, explosions, as he completely bottomed out, his hips flush against Louis’ ass. 

Ever since that first night in the VIP lounge when Louis had bent over the countertop of the bar, Harry had been imagining how amazing Louis would feel — tight, hot, Louis gripping around him. Being inside of Louis was so much more than Harry had dreamt of — it was pure heaven. And now that he had experienced it, how was Harry supposed to go without it,

Taking a deep breath, Harry had to force himself to calm down, not wanting this to be over before it even began. He wanted to be able to enjoy being inside of Louis for as long as he could.

“Move Harry,” Louis pleaded, pushing back against him.

Harry grabbed a hold of Louis’ hips, pulling almost all of the way out, thrusting right back in again, Louis’ moans loud and his panting heavy.

Keeping up a steady pace, Harry fucked into Louis hard, his fingers digging into Louis’ sides, threatening to leave bruises that would stay long after the night ended.

“Harry, please.”

Draping his body over Louis, he reached out and placed his hand on top of Louis’, linking their fingers as he leaned close, licking and nipping at Louis’ ear. “Please what, baby?” 

“Don’t stop,” Louis begged. “Please don’t stop.”

“Never,” he replied, leaving a trail of kisses along Louis’ neck and shoulders.

Fucking relentlessly into Louis, Harry snaked his hand around Louis’ torso, gripping his cock. He pumped once, twice, three times before Louis was coming again. 

Crying out, his voice cracking and his arms trembling, Louis dropped his head for a brief moment before lazily looking over his shoulder at Harry. There were tears stinging the edges of his eyes and his cheeks were bright red. And fuck if he didn’t look like everything Harry had ever dreamt of.

“Come inside me,” Louis whined and that was all it took for Harry to hurdle over the edge, releasing into the condom.

Harry leaned forward, capturing Louis’ lips in a lazy kiss as he rode out his orgasm.

Breaking the kiss, each man took a moment to catch their breath. Louis hissed and grunted as Harry gently and gingerly pulled out of Louis.

Rolling Louis onto his back, Harry bent down for a proper kiss, pressing his tongue into Louis’ mouth, feeling Louis wrap his arms around Harry’s neck as they got lost in each other, the world outside moving on without them.

$$$$$$$$$$

“Tell me about your first scam.”

Harry looked over and saw that Louis’ eyes were closed. “I thought you were sleeping,” he laughed.

Opening his eyes he caught Harry staring at him. “What can I say...I’m just full of surprises. C’mon...tell me, please,” he added, a small smile making its way across his lips as he turned over to face Harry, tucking the blankets under his chin.

“Okay,” he said, mirroring Louis’ actions and propping himself up on his elbow. Returning the smile, Harry leaned forward to give Louis a kiss. “It was the day I turned 21. God, I remember it like it was yesterday...I was so excited to get to play in an _actual_ casino. I can still recall every detail, every sound, every sight. I sat down at the table and something just took over and I immediately started counting cards and exchanging chips.”

“And that’s when you knew this is what you wanted to do? To be a card shark?”

“Sort of. I kept going back, night after night, walking out with more and more money each time. It was addicting — the thrill, the risk.” Harry paused. “I just figured that if football couldn’t get me out of Pooler, then maybe scamming casinos could.”

“Do you miss it? Your town? Your family?”

“Not really,” Harry admitted. “No one to miss. My mom died a few years ago and as for my sister? Well, we really never had a lot in common — she was content to marry right out of high school and to start having children almost immediately. And I just...I wanted more, and after I got injured she offered to get me a job but I just couldn’t take it. I knew that I would get into a routine of working a measly nine-to-five job for the next forty years and that just isn’t me. I would have been miserable. So we drifted apart. Last time I saw her was at our mother’s funeral. What about you?”

“Well, my mom died about seven years ago and a small piece of me died with her.”

Harry reached out, brushing a few loose strands of hair away from Louis’ forehead as he continued, “After that it was just me and my sister. We were never really close — she’s had her life completely planned out since she was little. While I...I thought I knew what I wanted. I went to college for a while, but then dropped out because…”

“You don’t have to —”

“No, it’s okay. I dropped out for a guy.” Louis sighed heavily. “I thought he was the one. He promised to take care of me and I believed him. College wasn’t the only thing I dropped...I dropped my sister like a hot potato. I moved to the big city with my fancy boyfriend into his fancy apartment and thought ‘finally, I won’t be compared to her anymore, I’ll show everyone that I’m going to make something of my life’. God, I was such an idiot.”

“No you weren’t. You just happened to fall for the wrong guy. It happens.”

“I guess.” Louis rolled over onto his back. “But then I had to come grovelling back to my sister after I got thrown out on my ass. Can you believe he cheated on me with his assistant? I mean, how cliche, right?”

Harry let out a small laugh. “Yeah.”

“And don’t get me wrong, she’s been so good to me, even got me the job at The Lucky Flower. It’s just...she’s so successful and I’m...I’m 32 and I’m a waiter at a run down casino in the middle of nowhere. I’m the laughing stock of our family, of the whole town and I’ll never measure up to my sister. I’m...I’m a failure.”

Harry brought his hand up, caressing Louis’ face. “Look at me.” Louis slowly turned his head towards Harry, meeting his gaze. “You are _not_ a failure. It’s just taking you a little longer to figure things out, that’s all. Is that why you’re so desperate to leave?”

“Yeah. I just want a fresh start, to go someplace where no one knows me or my sister, someplace I can be myself without having her shadow always following me around.” He paused, shaking his head. “God, I am so sorry for laying all of that on you.”

“No need to be sorry, that’s why I’m here. I like that you feel as though you can trust me with your secrets.”

“Well I’m sorry for going on and on about my sister being there for me when you don’t even talk to yours.”

“Again, no need to be sorry...it is what it is, right?” Harry reached his fingers out, tracing those same words that were tattooed across Louis’ chest. “Some families are close, some aren’t. I think I’m doing okay for myself — got plenty of money in the bank and a very pretty boy in my bed.”

“Oh yeah?” Louis smirked. “And just what is it that you plan on doing with that pretty boy of yours?”

“Watch and see.” He captured Louis’ lips before throwing back the blankets and pulling Louis on top of him.

$$$$$$$$$$

Harry Styles knew.

He knew that he should have stuck to his original plan, leaving town when he was supposed to. 

He knew that partnering with Louis wasn’t a good idea, that he had been successful working alone over the past decade. 

He knew sleeping with Louis had been a mistake — his emotions were being clouded and he didn’t have any idea how to stop it, didn’t know if he wanted to stop it.

He knew all of that and yet here he was — sitting in his usual chair, at his usual blackjack table, playing with his usual table mates, drinking his usual drink. 

Harry was becoming a local, a regular player at The Lucky Flower — familiar with the staff, dealers and other players and something needed to happen. And it needed to happen _now_ .

“Louis!”

Harry and Louis both turned to see Mike waving to Louis, motioning for him to come over.

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” Louis smiled before walking away and crossing the room to where Mike was standing at his usual position, next to the entrance of the VIP lounge.

Since they were out of listening range, Harry was unable to make out any of their conversation, but based on the way that Mike’s hands were animatedly flying in Louis’ face, Harry assumed whatever Mike was saying couldn’t have been good.

Then panic struck Harry — maybe he and Louis had been caught. Or at least Louis had. But if Louis had, then so had Harry.

He tried to catch Louis’ eyes as he made his way back towards the table, but Louis refused to make eye contact. Instead he brushed right by Harry, past the bar, disappearing through a door which Harry assumed led to the employee break room.

Taking a quick glance at his watch, Harry saw that Louis’ shift had just ended, so he gathered his chips, cashing out and hurrying through the exit of the building in hopes of finding Louis waiting for him in the alleyway.

They had begun to get into a bit of a routine — on the nights they worked their scam, Louis would wait in the alleyway for Harry and on the nights Harry didn’t visit The Lucky Flower, Harry would pick Louis up once his shift was over. But every single night the two men would lay in bed in Harry’s apartment , talking for hours before their lips found each other’s in the dark.

It was nice, having someone to go home with, to go to bed with, to wake up with — he had never had someone to do all of those things with, which was part of the reason Harry was so reluctant to leave Tennessee — it meant having to leave Louis as well.

Disappointment crept over Harry when he stepped into the alleyway and found that it was completely empty. He waited for a few minutes before wondering if maybe Louis had decided to wait for him at his car instead.

Yet again, he was disappointed that Louis was nowhere to be found. But more than that, he was anxious, his mind racing with all the different things that Mike could have said to Louis to elicit such a strong reaction from him.

Climbing into the car, Harry waited for another twenty minutes, but when there was still no sign of Louis, he gave up and decided to head home, alone.

$$$$$$$$$$

“Harry! What are you doing here?” Mike asked, shaking Harry’s hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here on a _Wednesday_ before.”

“Oh...well, my plans fell through and I just thought I’d come by and take some more of your money,” Harry laughed.

“I’d love to see you try.”

“Hey listen, is Louis here tonight?” Harry questioned, trying not to seem too suspicious or anxious.

“Yeah, he’s here. Why do you ask?” Mike’s brows began to furrow.

“He just seemed upset last night, that’s all...just wanted to make sure that he was okay,” Harry explained and the look on Mike’s face softened.

“He seemed fine to me, but you should be able to find him in the VIP lounge, as usual.”

“Great. Thanks Mike,” Harry said, hurrying across the casino floor and towards the glass doors, breathing a sigh of relief that Mike hadn’t seemed to be onto his and Louis’ scam.

The truth was — Harry didn’t have any plans that fell through, he just needed to see Louis, who had never come home last night. He had no way of getting in touch with Louis, seeing as how Louis didn’t have a phone. Harry made a mental note to buy him one. So showing up at The Lucky Flower was the only sure way of talking to him.

Harry had been on edge since the night before when Mike had called Louis over and they had had some kind of altercation. He had no idea what Mike had said to Louis and needed to find him.

But as he passed by the row of slot machines, something caught his attention. Or rather, _someone_ .

There was a man sitting at one of the machines. And while that wasn’t enough to grab Harry’s attention, it was who the man was that did — a broken heart he had left behind in Nebraska.

Harry stopped, frozen in place as he did a double take, watching the tall blonde cowboy pumping nickel after nickel into the blaring machine.

All of a sudden, panic began to overtake Harry. It couldn’t be Blake, could it? What in the world would Blake be doing in a small casino in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee? Was he looking for Harry? Was he going to expose Harry and his decade long casino scam?

He and Blake had had a few nights of fun — blowjobs in the casino bathroom and a quick fuck in the bed of Blake’s pick-up truck before Harry had skipped town.

Thinking back he had been sure he had covered all of his bases, not making any mistakes like he had the first night he met Louis in the VIP lounge. So why was Blake sitting at a slot machine in the exact same casino Harry had had next on his list of targets?

He didn’t wait around for the answer. Harry had more pressing, more important issues to deal with and rushed into the lounge to look for Louis.

Joe and Scott were already at the table and waved Harry over as soon as the doors closed behind him.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath, walking over and taking a seat next to Scott.

Barbara dealt him in, pushing a tall stack of chips in front of him.

“Has...umm, has anyone seen Louis?” he asked, picking up his cards as he tried not to be so obvious.

“Yeah, he went to get our drinks. Should be back in a minute,” Joe answered, stacking three chips onto the green felt covered table.

“Great!” he exclaimed, before trying to cover up his enthusiasm. “I...just wasn’t sure if he worked Wednesdays, but I’m glad he does.”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, wiping it onto his pants. Fuck, he really needed to get himself together. Between Mike and Louis’ altercation, Louis’ disappearance and Blake’s appearance, he was becoming unravelled minute by minute.

If he had to describe it, he'd say that he felt as though the walls were beginning to close in around him. And if he was asked what could be done to help him, he’d say Louis — in a second, without even having to think about it.

“Here you go, Joe. One gin and tonic.”

One.

Harry placed four red chips onto the stack and in an unprecedented move — he lost. Big. Almost four thousand dollars in a single hand.

Turning towards Louis, he could see the look of desperation on his face as he mouthed what appeared to be the words ‘I’m sorry’.

Without acknowledging Louis’ mistake and with fire in his eyes, Harry gathered up his remaining chips, cashing them in for just under a thousand dollars and stormed out of the casino.

Kicking the tire of his car, obscenities began flying from his mouth.

“Fuck! Shit! Motherfucker!”

He knew he should have left, should have trusted his instincts and this just solidified his belief that he couldn’t rely on anyone except himself.

He had left his guard down, had let Louis in and it had cost him — both financially and emotionally.

Hastily ripping off his cream colored jacket and throwing it into the open window of his car, Harry could hear Louis calling out to him.

“Harry! God, I am so, so sorry.” 

“Did you do it on purpose?” he asked, turning around as Louis ran up to him.

“What? You can’t be serious right now?” The disbelief was obvious in Louis’ tone. “Of course I didn’t do it on purpose, for fuck’s sake Harry, my ass is on the line here too. I didn’t even see you at the table until it was too late. Besides... It’s Wednesday! You _never_ come in on Wednesdays. So _no_ — I didn’t do it on purpose! You’re kidding right?”

“Does it fucking look like I’m joking?” Harry snapped, continuing, “Maybe if you weren’t so busy flirting with Joe all of the time. Maybe if you stuck to the plan... _our_ plan.” He pointed between the two of them. “No. You know what? This…” He again pointed between them. “...this was a bad idea. I _knew_ that this was a bad idea. You. You were a bad idea.” Harry paused for a brief moment. “We should just...we need to part ways.”

“Are you...are you breaking up with me?” Louis asked, watching as Harry climbed into the car.

“How can we break up if we were never together?” Harry slammed the door closed behind him, shutting Louis and the world out.

$$$$$$$$$$

Something was wrong and it seemed as though everyone in The Lucky Flower could sense it.

Tensions were high, morale was low and Harry had a sense of foreboding.

Louis must have had another talk with Mike and gotten himself reassigned to another area in the VIP lounge so that he was no longer waiting on Harry’s table. Instead he was three tables over, making sure he was directly in Harry’s eyesight as he flirted heavily with the two middle-aged men playing blackjack.

Since Louis was no longer a part of Harry’s scheme, it was up to him to go back to his original plan of counting cards and exchanging out his chips in the middle of play.

But he just couldn’t do it — maybe because he was afraid Louis would turn him in and alert Mike, who would surely check the security footage. Maybe because he had the feeling that Blake was still lurking around, ready to expose Harry as the liar and fraud he was. Maybe because his heart just wasn’t in it.

Whatever the reason, these past few days without Louis had been absolute hell. Sleeping alone, not having Louis to fall asleep with or wake up to had opened Harry’s eyes to an indisputable fact — he had fallen in love with Louis.

It had happened slowly and without warning, but it was true and all Harry wanted to do was make things right between him and Louis.

He had called it an early night, leaving with just over two thousand dollars and as he stepped off the curb into the parking lot, he immediately spun around and walked over to the dark alleyway that he and Louis had unofficially claimed as theirs.

He paced back and forth, smoking two cigarettes with his head leaned against the cool bricks of the wall, looking up to the sky as he waited for Louis to emerge from inside.

Finally, the door swung open, revealing Louis. His vest was off, shirt unbuttoned as he delicately swept his long fringe off of his forehead.

One look at him and Harry knew. His stomach knew. His heart knew. He loved Louis. And he needed to tell him.

“Louis!” Harry called out as Louis brushed past him. “Wait...please.”

“Please what? Isn’t this what you wanted — to _part ways_ as you so eloquently put it? So that’s just what I did — I parted. Hell, I even got Mike to let me switch areas with Theresa so we wouldn’t have any contact.”

“I didn’t mean...this isn’t…ugh,” Harry sighed. “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“Then what the fuck do you want, Harry?” Louis threw his hands up. “I thought we were together...partners. We have sex constantly, I’ve practically moved into your apartment. Fuck. I’ve told you things that I’ve never told anyone else before. But I guess...you obviously seem to think...I don’t even know what you think anymore.”

“Look, I...I know what I said, but that’s not what...fuck, why is this so hard?”

“Why is _what_ so hard? Jesus Christ, Harry. What the fuck are you going on about? Save the games for inside the casino. Please. Just stop with this back and forth bullshit. Can’t you just stop? I don’t understand what you want from me.”

“Just you.”

“Oh really?” Louis let out a chuckle full of sarcasm and laced with scorn. “What’s wrong? Your scheme not going well? Need someone on the inside after all?”

“No. That’s not...god, would you just let me explain?”

Opening his mouth, Louis immediately closed it before opening it again. “No. No, I don’t think that I will. I just...why are you still here anyway? Just leave and move onto wherever and _whoever.”_

Turning to walk away, Harry watched him take a few steps before calling out, “I’m in love with you.”

Louis stopped, frozen in place, not moving a muscle in either direction and Harry knew that he needed to lay everything out on the line, to make Louis understand or he’d lose him for good.

“You’ve gotten under my skin,” Harry began. “From that first moment you stepped out of this alley with my lighter in your hand, blackmailing me into letting you take a chunk of my winnings...you’ve managed to wiggle your way inch by inch under my skin. And now you’ve completely overtaken me. Every single piece of me now belongs to you. And…” Harry sighed heavily. “And I’m scared. I am so scared, Louis.”

Pivoting to face Harry, Louis let his hands drop to his sides. “Why? Why are you so scared? What do you have to be scared of?”

“I’m scared because I’ve never felt like this about anyone. Before I came to Tennessee, I’d meet someone, have a little fun and then it was time for me to move on — to a new city, a new person, never caring about who or what I left behind.”

Taking a tentative step towards Louis, Harry went on, “But you’re so different from anyone that I’ve ever met. You’re smart, funny, sexy, sarcastic, persuasive, determined, kind...one smile from you and I come undone. You make me laugh but most of all, you make me...happy. You make me so fucking happy, Louis. Happier than I’ve ever been, happier than I could ever imagine.”

Harry slowly took another step. “When we first started scheming it was supposed to be purely fun, exciting, but mainly short-lived — we’d both walk away with money in our pockets. But I was supposed to leave. Leave you, leave Tennessee, never look back.”

“What?” Louis cleared his throat. “Umm, what happened? What made you change your mind?”

“You.” Harry gave him a small smile. “You happened. You walked right up to me, demanding to be partners. Then, somehow over the past few months, you’ve gone from being my partner to being my _partner,”_ he emphasized the last word, hoping that Louis would understand what he was trying to say. “In every possible way.”

He reached out, lightly brushing his fingers across Louis’ cheek. “You’re everything that I’ve ever wanted, _this_ is everything that I’ve ever wanted and I am so, _so_ in love with you, Louis.”

Louis let out a gasp, “Harry...don’t…”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t play me like you play blackjack. Like I’m just a part of your scheme. Like you’re just trying to sweet talk me into making sure I’m not going to turn you in.”

Cupping Louis’ face in both of his hands, his thumbs caressing Louis’ cheeks, Harry began placing feather-light kisses on his forehead, then his nose, hovering over his lips, each of them breathing the other in. “I’m in love with you, Louis. I don’t care if you want to be a part of the plan anymore or not. I don’t care if you turn me in to Mike or not. I just...I want you...only you. I know you feel it. Here…” He took Louis’ hand and placed it on his heart. “Feel it...it beats just for you.”

“Harry…” Louis whispered.

Brushing their lips together, Harry felt Louis grab a hold of his jacket, pulling him closer and Harry couldn’t help but smile into Louis’ mouth.

$$$$$$$$$$

“We have a problem.”

They were laying in bed after two amazing rounds of make-up sex — one on the floor in the living room because they couldn’t make it to the bedroom before ripping each other’s clothes off. Harry quickly worked Louis open with his tongue before Louis rode him on the couch. They eventually made their way to the shower where Harry jerked them both off together, sucking a large bruise onto Louis’ neck as he dug his nails into Harry’s back.

Rain was beating on the bedroom windows as Harry traced his fingers over the black ink across Louis’ chest, kissing his shoulder, sucking on his collarbone.

“Harry? Didn’t you hear me?” Louis asked, grabbing a hold of the hand that was on his chest. “We have a problem.”

Looking up, Harry could see the concerned look on Louis’ face, could hear the seriousness in his voice and so he stopped. “Okay...what’s wrong?”

Sighing, Louis ran his fingers through his hair. “I think...I think we’re about to get caught.”

“What?”

Louis sat up in bed. “The other night when Mike called me over? Well he basically told me that it had come to his attention that I’ve been getting a little too friendly with you.”

“And what did you say to that?”

“I just told him that I was flirting with you more because you’re a really good tipper.” Louis let out a small laugh. “But I have no idea how he knew or who told him, because I think we’ve been pretty discreet. He made it very clear that it needed to stop because you’re a customer and that if it continued he’d have no other choice but to fire me and possibly blacklist me from other casinos. And so I stormed off at the end of my shift and went to stay at my sister’s because...because I just..I didn’t know what else to do or how to tell you.”

“Okay,” Harry said, nodding softly, letting Louis know to continue.

“So I got to her place and she could tell that I was upset and I just…” Louis sighed. “I told her all about you, about us and she listened. She didn’t judge me, she just listened. And then she flat out told me I needed to follow my heart.” Harry sat up in bed, turning towards Louis as he went on, “And my heart says it’s you, Harry. It’s you. And if I get fired, well then so be it, I’ve been fired before, but I don’t want you to get caught, so that’s why I asked Mike if I could change tables.”

Harry leaned over, taking Louis’ face into his palms and kissing him. “I was going to leave town soon anyway...come with me.”

“What?” Louis asked.

“Come with me,” he repeated. “Let’s just pack up and go...we can change our names, maybe our looks. We’ll lay low for a while. And then in a few months we can resume scamming...I was headed to West Virginia, but we should probably go somewhere further away, maybe Iowa. I’ve done it before, it’s not as bad as it seems, you just need to —”

“No. You don’t get it. I want you, only you. I don’t want to resume scamming,” Louis interrupted. “Not in a few months, not ever.” He sighed heavily. “I’m tired, Harry. Tired of always looking over my shoulder, tired of having my every move watched. And I’m tired of not having a place of my own...I went from John’s apartment to my sister’s to yours...I want a place I can call mine...ours. A place where the furniture doesn’t smell like mothballs and where the carpet isn’t from the 70s and the paint isn’t peeling off of the walls...and I want all of that with you. I want it to be just you and me, building a life together.”

“Louis…” Harry started before being stopped by Louis, who obviously had more to say.

“We could both get new jobs...something that doesn’t require constant anxiety or panic that everything’s going to come crashing down in one fell swoop. Maybe we could —”

“Louis, stop. Just please stop.”

Immediately closing his mouth, Louis’ eyes widened. “Oh my god,” he said after a brief moment of silence. “You don’t want that...you don’t want me. Fuck. How could I have been so stupid?” He started to climb out of bed, but Harry grabbed his hand, pulling him back.

“Don’t ever, _ever_ think that. I want us...you. I just don’t think that I can stop scamming casinos. It’s literally the only thing that I’ve known for the past decade...it’s the only thing that I’m good at. What if…” He felt Louis take his hand and looked down to watch Louis intertwining their fingers together. “What if I’m not good at anything else? The only thing I was ever good at was football and that got taken away from me. Then I began scamming casinos and I don’t think...I don’t think that I can do anything else.”

“But don’t you want to do something else? Something that you can be proud of? A legacy you can leave behind?” Louis questioned. “Or is being a casino scammer all that you want to be known for? Let me ask something...before football what did you want to be? When you were little? What did you want to be when you grew up?”

“I...well I always wanted to be a football player. It was the only thing that was going to get me out of the small town that I grew up in. Well, at least that’s what I thought at the time,” Harry explained. “But...in high school I always enjoyed writing — poems, short stories...nothing too fancy but then I took a course in college and began writing a novel.”

“A novel?!” Louis exclaimed. “Harry! That’s amazing!”

“Eh.” Harry shrugged his shoulders. “What if no one wants to read anything I’ve written? What if I write a novel and it sits on a shelf in a bookstore collecting dust?”

“Well, what if the opposite happens? What if you write a best seller? What if it flies off of the shelf? Hmm?” Louis gave him a small smile. “You won’t know until you try. Can’t you try? For me? For us? Let’s leave and start over fresh.”

“One more night — that’s it Lou, just one more night of scheming and I’ll be done. Then we can go wherever you want.”

“Do you promise?” Louis asked, climbing into Harry’s lap, straddling his legs. 

Brushing the hair off of Louis’ forehead, Harry looked to the man that he had fallen in love with, the only man that he had ever loved — and promised.

$$$$$$$$$$

The plan was simple.

They had done it dozens of times, had gone over it dozens more.

But this time, instead of going back to the apartment that Harry had been renting, they would be driving through the night, leaving The Lucky Flower and Tennessee in their rearview mirror.

Louis had introduced Harry to his sister and she had immediately begun to interrogate him, making him promise that he would take care of Louis and not let anything bad happen to him. Harry considered it to be the easiest promise he had ever made.

The two men packed up all of their belongings, stuffing suitcases and boxes into the trunk and backseat of Harry’s car for their long drive out of state.

And as Harry pulled into the parking lot of The Lucky Flower Casino for the last time, he found himself feeling something that he hadn’t felt in a very, very long time, if ever — relief.

Relief in knowing that this was his final night of scamming blackjack at low level casinos located in the backwoods of small country towns.

Relief in knowing that he would no longer have to look over his shoulder, keep his lies straight or make up backgrounds, identities and aliases. 

Relief in knowing that soon he and Louis would be on the road towards their new life — together.

Relief in knowing that whatever happened next, he would have Louis right by his side.

He’d been on the road alone for so long, travelling from Georgia to Nevada, from Texas to Tennessee that he had given up on ever meeting someone, ever having a relationship, ever falling in love. 

But then Louis had blown into his life like a cool breeze after a rainstorm — welcoming, refreshing and invigorating. And he had changed Harry’s entire life. And while he wasn’t sure that he’d ever be able to give up scamming and scheming, to walk away from the crazy, hectic, risky lifestyle that he had created for himself over the past decade, he knew that for Louis he was willing to try.

Approaching the front door, the butterflies that he began to feel flutter deep in his stomach weren’t of nerves or jitters, but of excitement and hope, of what the future looks like for him — and Louis. Together.

$$$$$$$$$$

Two hours later Harry found himself in a position he had never been in before — he was up almost thirty thousand dollars. All eyes were on him — the pit bosses seemed to be on high alert as a small crowd began gathering around table ten in the VIP lounge.

Even though Louis had switched tables and shouldn’t have been serving drinks to Harry’s table, a waitress named Savannah had called out sick, leaving them understaffed and so Mike had needed Louis to cover and take over his original area.

Harry and Louis had been able to resume their scheme, with Louis inserting numbers into practically every single sentence that came out of his mouth and with less than an hour to go until the end of Louis’ final shift, Harry was doubling down on his bets so fast, he couldn’t keep up with counting cards.

When his total winnings reached forty-two thousand dollars, Harry figured it was a good time to call it a night, taking his enormous stack of chips to the cashier and stuffing the oversized envelope into his suit jacket.

Seeing Mike standing at the front door, Harry’s stomach dropped. This was it, he and Louis had been caught.

“Harry, my boy! Leaving so soon?” he asked, holding his hand out for Harry.

“Yeah.” Harry shook Mike’s hand. “Couldn’t stand taking any more money away from you,” he joked, chuckling, relieved to realize that Mike still seemed completely oblivious to his and Louis’ scheme.

“Hey Mike, let me ask you something...who’s that guy sitting alone in the second row of slot machines?”

Mike looked around Harry. “Oh him? That’s Martin. Started coming here a little over three years ago, after his wife died. Do you know him?”

Turning, Harry looked to the man he thought he had recognized as being Blake from Nebraska. “Nope. Never seen him before.” He had obviously been mistaken. Maybe the paranoia of everything seeming to fall apart had made him see something, someone, who wasn’t there.

But it seemed as though things were finally beginning to fall into place for him and Louis, and Harry couldn’t have been more grateful. 

After saying good-bye to Mike, Harry walked out of The Lucky Flower Casino and Hotel, stepping into the parking lot, with his head held high, not looking back, only forward.

Harry and Louis had agreed that they shouldn’t be seen arriving at the casino or leaving together and so Harry had dropped Louis off at the bus station where he had boarded a bus to the casino and where Harry would be waiting for him after his shift was over. 

Climbing into his car and slamming the door, Harry let out a huge sigh of relief that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. He ran his fingers through his hair before starting the car and steering it out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

Harry arrived at the bus station, pulling into a parking space to wait for Louis’ arrival. He got out, leaning against the car as bus after bus began pulling into the station to unload and reload passengers. With each passing person that wasn’t Louis, Harry started to get more and more anxious.

What if Louis had changed his mind and decided not to come? What if he had gotten caught and was sitting in Mike’s office, the police having already been called, on their way to the outdated building in the middle of nowhere?

As another bus stopped to let people off, Harry craned his neck, watching men and women go by, until he spotted the one person — the only person he had been looking for — Louis.

Harry could see the tiredness that was written all over Louis’ face — taking the bus had added an extra hour to his already long day, yet Louis lit up as soon as he and Harry made eye contact from across the parking lot — the same bright, blinding smile Louis had given him the first night they met, when Harry agreed to let Louis partner with him. The same smile Louis had given him countless times over the past few months — in the casino, during sex, while cooking dinner, driving down the road. The same smile he knew he would never get tired of seeing, of being rewarded with, of getting to be the lucky one putting that beautiful smile on Louis’ beautiful face. 

And just like that first night in the darkened alleyway next to The Lucky Flower, the butterflies in Harry’s stomach began to flutter as Louis approached him and he found that he was unable to resist smiling back.

“How’d it go?” he asked as Louis stopped inches from him. Harry had wanted Louis to just leave his job with no explanation, but Louis disagreed and felt he at least needed to tell Mike he was quitting.

“Mike laughed and told me that he had seen the sparks between us the very first time we met and that basically it had been only a matter of time.”

Harry chuckled. “He told me the same thing that first night.”

“He seemed genuinely confused when I asked to switch tables and said that he hadn’t wanted to chastise me, but that he needed to make an example of me and pretty much apologized and then told me he was going to have a hard time replacing someone like me.”

“That’s because you are one of a kind.” He reached out, brushing the hair that had fallen across Louis’ forehead out of his face, replacing it with light kisses before moving his lips to Louis’ cheeks and mouth, slowly flicking his tongue inside. 

“You keep that up and we’ll never get on the road,” Louis joked, breaking away to peel his vest off, tossing it into the open backseat window before undoing the top buttons of his shirt, exposing the tattoo that Harry loved so much.

“You keep that up and we’ll never get on the road,” Harry repeated, cocking one eyebrow seductively towards Louis, who shook his head while letting out a loud laugh. “On a more serious note…” Harry pulled a map of the United States out of his back pocket, handing it to Louis.

“Here,” Harry said, watching Louis turn the paper back and forth, examining it, a confused look creeping across his face.

“What’s this?” Louis asked, trying to hand the booklet back to Harry, who motioned for him to keep it. 

“It’s a map,” Harry answered flatly.

“Yeah, well, I can see that, silly. What exactly am I supposed to do with it?”

“Well, you once told me you wanted to go someplace where no one knew you, where you could be yourself and start fresh...so pick somewhere. I mean, if that’s still what you want...if you still...want me...want to be with me,” Harry stuttered out.

Louis reached up, caressing Harry’s face, brushing his fingers lightly over Harry’s cheeks. “There’s absolutely nothing I want more.”

Their kiss was tender, soft, loving and way too short as Louis broke away, unfolding the map and laying it out flat on the hood of Harry’s car. “Where to?”

“You pick. I told you...wherever you want to go.”

“Anywhere? You mean it?” Louis asked, scanning the map from north to south, from east to west.

Harry nodded, wrapping his arms around Louis’ waist from behind, leaning his chin on Louis’ shoulder. “Anywhere.” 

Louis shook his head, smiling fondly, his fingers running over the lines on the paper. “Here.” He pointed to a city, showing Harry.

He peeked over Louis’ shoulder, looking to see where Louis had picked, “Okay.”

“Okay?” surprise was evident in Louis’ voice. “Just like that?” 

“Just like that,” he echoed, craning his neck to join their lips once again. 

He opened the door for Louis and let him climb in and then? Then it finally hit him. That elderly couple he had watched all those months ago? That love that he had yearned for? He'd gotten it. He'd actually gotten it and he was determined to do absolutely everything in his power to keep it, to nourish it, to let it grow.

And so if that meant leaving the scheming and scamming behind, well, that was perfectly fine with him. There were more important things in life — mainly the man sitting in the passenger seat.

Settling in and slamming the car door closed, he turned to Louis to ask him once again if he was sure.

Louis reached out his hand, fingertips tracing over Harry’s cheek and lips, leaning over to Harry’s seat. “Absolutely,” he whispered into Harry’s mouth and that was all the confirmation that Harry needed. 

Typing the name of the town Louis had selected into the gps, Harry maneuvered the car into traffic as the robotic voice sprang to life to announce, “starting route to destination."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
